Amplify

This event will present photographer Peta Clancy’s series, Undercurrent, which provides a multi-layered representation on Indigenous Australian history. She captures re-directed waterways in Dja Dja Wurrung country that hide where Indigenous massacres occurred – her images, while deceptively serene, carry the weight of colonialism and intergenerational trauma. A descendant of the Bangerang people from Southeastern Australia, she seeks to reconstruct hidden histories of colonisation in a contemporary setting, drawing attention to what has been lost and forgotten.

Another featured artist is Nadia Hernández, whose work expresses the political climate of her home country and life as a Venezuelan woman. She navigates these nuanced themes with a diverse range of materials and mediums, including textiles, paper constructions and sculptures. Amplify will showcase her wall installation, which uses neon colours and handprints to portray her connection with family and place, which transcends distance and time.

You can also check out Sam Leach’s Automatic Evolution of the Art Audience, an interactive portrait generated by artificial intelligence. His art is inspired by science and philosophy, combining data visualisation and semiotics to generate a simple, clean aesthetic. For this installation, viewers are invited to pose for a photo which will be added to an algorithm to create an ever-changing portrait that will be displayed on a screen.

This year, Sydney Contemporary showcases works from over four hundred and fifty artists from thirty-four countries, presenting over ninety Australian and New Zealand galleries. Amplify is the perfect palace to have fun and see some cool art amidst the enormity of the festival. “The works for Amplify serve as interstices or interruptions, offering moments of curiosity, whimsy, exuberance, respite and reflection,” says curator Annika Kristensen.