A selection of key contemporary art from 10 years of the Basil Sellers Art Prize, a biannual exhibition of new commissions that reflect on sport and sporting culture, will open at the Hazelhurst Gallery and Arts Centre next month.
Play On: The Art of Sport, opens on December 9 and includes painting, sculpture, video, drawing and mixed media installation by prominent Australian artists from diverse cultural backgrounds including Tony Albert, Daniel Crooks, Richard Bell, Shaun Gladwell and Lauren Brincat.
The works of Jon Campbell, Tarryn Gill and Pilar Mata Dupont, Josie Kunoth Petyarre and Dinni Kunoth Kemarre, Richard Lewer, Fiona McMonagle, Kerrie Poliness, Khaled Sabsabi, Gabrielle de Vietri and Gerry Wedd are also featured in the NETS Victoria and Ian Potter Museum of Art touring exhibition.
Individual works in the exhibition include engagement with gymnastics, running, community sport, ground-keeping, Australian football, race relations and the representation of women in sport.
The sports arena is portrayed as a powerful theatre of emotion, where hope, fear, adversity, triumph, glory and defeat are writ large. The concept will illustrate notions of cultural belonging and marginalisation, gender and race relations, and technology’s impact on our physical limits.
A unique opportunity to bring art and sport lovers together
- Belinda Hanrahan
Belinda Hanrahan, director of Hazelhurst Gallery, said the exhibition offered a unique opportunity to bring art and sport lovers together and to see the work of some of Australia’s most important artists.
Sutherland Shire Mayor Carmelo Pesce said it was wonderful that one of Australia’s richest and most prestigious art awards would be at Hazelhurst for the local community to enjoy and support.
The exhibition will tour nationally between 2017-2019, with a 58 page fully illustrated catalogue available to purchase.
The Basil Sellers Art Prize inspired innovative explorations of sport from a roll call of Australia’s most accomplished artists. It was one of Australia’s richest and most prestigious art awards with selected artists commissioned to create a work in response to the theme.
Play On: The Art of Sport, December 9 to February 11.
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, 782 Kingsway, Gymea
- Details: hazelhurst.com.au
