News

Is Sidney Nolan still relevant?

Through a wave of refocused attention on the Australian modernist icon, there is much to be said on Nolan’s legacy in today’s context.

25 Feb 2022

Celina Lei

Visual Arts

Re-appropriating Sidney Nolan. Image: Installation view, Dean Cross, Sometimes I Miss the Applause, at Heide Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Christian Capurro.

A modern master, Australian icon, British treasure – is there anything more we could know about Sidney Nolan?

The Lady Nolan Estate would suggest so, hinting at never-before-shown works and documents yet to be revealed, while at Mona Foma 2021 Michael Bugelli Gallery stirred the art world with Nolan’s spray painted portraits, which have often been overlooked.

While centre stage at Heide Museum of Modern Art – an institution known for its uniquely entangled history with the artist’s past – is the exhibition Sidney Nolan: Search for Paradise, which spotlights an intimate perspective on Nolan’s psychological journey from 1941 to 1984, building upon his widespread recognition in fresh ways.

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Join Now Login

Celina Lei

Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.