Adelaide Biennial 2020 curator reveals monster exhibition - The Lead SA

Published by: The Lead South Australia | 9-Sep-2019
For its 30th year, the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art has announced its theme for 2020 and a line-up of trailblazing Australian artists.
Venue: Art Gallery of South Australia
Address: North Terrace Adelaide
Date: February 29 to June 8, 2020
Staged by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art is the nation's longest-running survey of contemporary Australian Art.

Leigh Robb, AGSA curator of contemporary art, has the prestigious role of curating the Adelaide Biennial in its 2020 anniversary year.

Each iteration of the biennial exhibition responds to a different theme or principle, with the 2020 exhibition titled Monster Theatres - inspired by the work of more than 20 provocative Australian artists.

Robb said their works include urgent warnings about the state of the world around us.

"Artists are invited to make visible the monsters of now," Robb said.

"The etymology of the word monster comes from monere - to warn. The most poignant works of art are often warnings made manifest."

Having studied psychology and a master's degree in art history, Robb has held prominent roles at galleries in Venice and London. This week she has unveiled the line-up of artists that have been selected to participate in the curatorial event.

"The Biennial will open up an arena of action, a circus of the dark and the absurd, a shadow play between truth and fiction," Robb said.

Some of the local artists to look out for are Aldo Iacobelli, Pierre Mukeba, Yhonnie Scarce, Julia Robinson and Mark Valenzuela.

Presented throughout the Art Gallery of South Australia, as well as Adelaide Botanic Gardens and its Museum of Economic Botany, the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres will be presented from February 29 to June 8 as the key visual art offering of the Adelaide Festival.

Announced this week, the artists are:

Abdul Abdullah (NSW)
Mike Bianco (WA)
Polly Borland (VIC)
Michael Candy (QLD)
Megan Cope (VIC)
Erin Coates and Anna Nazzari (WA)
Julian Day (NSW)
Karla Dickens (NSW)
Mikala Dwyer (VIC)
Brent Harris (VIC)
Aldo Iacobelli (SA)
Pierre Mukeba (SA)
David Noonan (VIC)
Mike Parr (NSW)
Julia Robinson (SA)
Yhonnie Scarce (SA)
Garry Stewart and Australian Dance Theatre (SA)
Mark Valenzuela (SA)
Stelarc (VIC)
Kynan Tan (NSW)
Willoh S. Weiland (TAS)
Judith Wright (QLD)

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