The Next-Gen Australian Artists You Need To Know

Curious about the highest calibre of Australian student art?

As ARTEXPRESS 2019 shows at Art Gallery of New South Wales, and The National Gallery of Victoria prepares for Top Arts 2019, we share works by some of our brightest young stars!

Written

Elle Murrell

From ARTEXPRESS 2019. Mer Kalo of Wyndham College’s The Brown Paper Bag Test (detail) photomedia work. Photo – courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales.

From Top Arts 2019. Aretha Brown of Williamstown High School’s Time is on our side, you mob work in gouache, pencil, synthetic polymer paint, fibre-tipped pens, spray paint and gloss spray. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Harry Kingston of Mentone Grammar’s Handle with care, oil on canvas artwork. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Kristy Fedoro of Fountain Gate Secondary College’s ‘Little raccoon’ inkjet print on canvas. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From ARTEXPRESS 2019. Sharon Xu of North Sydney Girls High School’s painting ‘Mirror, Mirror’. Photo – courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales.

From Top Arts 2019. Jared Psaila of Hillcrest Christian College’s Maintaining the ‘Wa’, fine-liner on paper artwork. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Gayatri Chaturvedi of Fintona Girls’ School’s A brief introspection 2018, oil on canvas artwork. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Brianna Burns of Beaconhills College’s Transparency, pencil on paper artwork. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Talulah Chauvin-Cunningham of Princes Hill Secondary College’s Still life 2018, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

From Top Arts 2019. Lien Zheng of Korowa Anglican Girls’ School’s Liminal 2018, oil on composition board. Photo – courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria.

Writer

Elle Murrell

8th of March 2019

Do you remember that artwork you created in school? Maybe it made it to pride-of-place on the family fridge, Nan’s mantle piece, or perhaps… even beyond?

These days, Australia’s most promising young artists have the opportunity to grace the walls of the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales – and they’ve certainly risen to the occasion.

Today, we showcase just some of the high-achieving young bunch whose work has been selected for the annual ARTEXPRESS and Top Arts exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney this year (hover your cursor over the works for all the details).

The annual and 35th ARTEXPRESS exhibition is now on at Art Gallery of NSW, featuring a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the artmaking component of The Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination in Visual Arts 2018.

Encompassing a broad range forms – from ceramics to drawing, graphic design, painting, photomedia, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and more – it provides insight into the unbound creativity of young people and the issues at the forefront of their lives.

‘These sophisticated, imaginative and highly resolved bodies of work reveal complex investigations by today’s student artists,’ praised Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand.

Meanwhile, the 25th Top Arts exhibition is currently being prepared at NGV, and will open later this month. Like it’s NSW counterpart, this showcase highlights diverse and accomplished works of art from students who have completed Art or Studio Arts as part of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).

Popular themes across both states, from cities to rural areas, include identity, community, Australian multiculturalism, consumerism and sport. These exhibitions are free to the public, so head along for a look – we guarantee you’ll discover some up-and-coming names to keep on your radar!

ARTEXPRESS 2019
February 7th to April 28th
Upper Asian Gallery
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road
Sydney, New South Wales

Top Arts 2019
22 March 22nd to July 14th
Ground Level, NGV Design Studio
NGV Australia, Federation Square
Melbourne, Victoria