Art News

Senior Art Excursion to the AGNSW
Written by: Anais Austin, Year 11

In Week 7, students in Years 11 and 12 Visual Arts visited the Art Gallery of NSW to explore a range of exhibitions, the highlight being Art Express, a showcase of outstanding 2025 HSC Visual Arts works that exceeded our high expectations. The exhibition featured an impressive variety of mediums, including short films, paintings, ceramics, and assemblages. Each artwork was accompanied by a thoughtfully written artist statement, offering insight into the artist’s conceptual intentions and creative process. It was incredible to see the success of Year 12 students’ work and their ability to connect with the audience. Whether it be a body of work on the representation of objective perspectives, or an emotionally driven subjective narrative, there was a diverse array of media and conceptual themes, providing us with inspiration for our own upcoming works.  

We also attended Ron Mueck’s exhibition Encounter, which presented striking and often confronting depictions of the human form, reflecting the artist’s engagement with contemporary emotional and psychological themes. The size and immense detail of his sculptures created an ominous tone which ran through the individual narrative of each sculpture. Mueck’s effective manipulation of visual emotion and his raw, nuanced ideas invited the audience to interact thoughtfully with each piece, prompting reflection on the origins, intentions, and deeper meanings embedded within each sculpture.

In contrast, the Mike Hewson exhibition The Key’s Under the Mat, located in the Tank at AGNSW, offered a distinctly different tone. Hewson created a tactile interactive playground that essentially consisted of salvaged industrial items and refurbished objects that tested each student’s senses. We explored features such as a heated sauna shed, an industrial steam-room milk vat, and various sensory experiences  scattered throughout the space. This exhibition invited a sense of curiosity and play, providing Years 11 and 12 with a uniquely childlike and sensory exploration of an unexpected artistic landscape.