Mitch Cairns: Artist's Mouth

From 1 May to 11 July 2026, the National Art School Gallery will present Mitch Cairns: Artist's Mouth, a major survey exhibition of work by Sydney-based painter and Archibald Prize winner Mitch Cairns, celebrating his twenty-year artistic career since graduating from the National Art School (NAS) in 2006. It features some 48 works, mostly from institutional and private collections, including a still life made as a graduating student and his 2017 Archibald Prize–winning portrait of partner and fellow artist Agatha Gothe-Snape. Also marking the 20th anniversary of NAS Gallery, this is the largest and most comprehensive show of his work to date.

A joint project by NAS Gallery and Meanjin/Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art (IMA), it will be shown at IMA from 10 October to 20 December 2026.

Curated by NAS Gallery Curator Lucy Latella and IMA Director Robert Leonard, Artist’s Mouth traces Cairns’ evolution, reflecting his ongoing engagement with the poetics of daily life and his artistic heroes.

Cairns’ work has been exhibited at major institutions across Australia, with his recent solo exhibitions Restless Legs (2025) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Wollongong Art Gallery. His works are held in national collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Murdoch University Art Collection and Monash University Museum of Art, as well as private collections in Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the United States.

In addition to his own art making, Cairns founded and curates exhibition programs for Ankles (2018–2021) and Cellar Door (2023–ongoing) and was curator of Primavera 2019: Young Australian Artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The first edition of his artist publication Penne and Other Shorter Written Works is included within the accompanying Artist's Mouth exhibition catalogue, published by NAS and IMA and available for pre-sale from 30 April at nas.edu.au/shop.

Co-Curator Lucy Latella said: “Mitch Cairns has established himself as a prolific, meticulous image maker over the past twenty years. This selection of work across various media highlights his anachronistic, cross-referential oeuvre, which is persistently unsettled by humour, local references, and a sensitivity to contemporary lived experience.”

Co-Curator Robert Leonard said: “My introduction to Cairns’ work was through his painting Geranium Pots (Interior) (2016). It shows a workman who could be constructing a painting or pulling it apart. It strikes me that Cairns does both at once.”

NAS Director and CEO Dr Kristen Sharp, added, "Mitch Cairns is one of the great contemporary success stories to come out of the National Art School, and we are delighted to celebrate his achievements with this outstanding survey of work. It is a pleasure to celebrate Mitch's 20-year career, that coincides with the 20-year anniversary of the NAS Gallery, in a very special homecoming that we're excited to present."