Step inside the brand new Sydney Modern
Costa Rican-Australian visual artist Randal Arvilla loves the building.
"The whole collection belongs to all the people of New South Wales."
And with the opening of Sydney Modern, the Art Gallery of NSW has doubled its exhibition space.
The site of the new building interconnects different neighbourhoods of Sydney – the city centre, Woolloomooloo and Potts Point.
Here Comes Everybody
Before you even set foot inside, the building’s Welcome Plaza stands tall with its folklore-inspired giant blue figures.
Francis Upritchard’s work invites you touch it – something you don’t hear very often at an art museum!
Each of the 3 bronze sculptures features a pair – one with long arms and another with long legs – helping each other.
Narrbong-galang (Many bags)
Waradgerie (Wiradjuri) artist Lorraine Connelly-Northey salvaged rusted wire and corrugated iron from the bush to make this site-specific installation.
Collecting the metal waste is an act of caring for Country as it helps native plants to thrive.
The work is the highlight of the Yiribana Gallery, which exhibits Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from across Australia. Yiribana means ’this way’ in the Sydney language. Inside you’ll find works by Reko Rennie, Richard Bell and Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos
90 years ago, Japanese-artist Yayoi Kusama was born in a nursery and has had a lifelong love of colourful flowers.
The new stainless steel work will now overlook Woolloomooloo day and night.
The End of Imagination
Walk down a wide spiral staircase and you’ll find yourself in a cavernous underground space.
Argentine sculptor Adrián Villar Rojas is the first to exhibit in this unique gallery, now called Tank. The space was originally a World War 2 fuel tank that was decommissioned in the 1980s and left dormant until Japanese design firm SANAA saw the potential for something extraordinary.
Villar Rojas’ work is constantly changing thanks to the lights whizzing around in the otherwise pitch-black Tank.
Entrance Pavilion
No museum is complete without an amazing gift shop and Sydney Modern is no exception. The shop’s walls and shelves are made from bio resin. It took 109 days to pour each layer of the outside shell.
The Gallery Shop stocks books, prints, homewares, fashion and more.
Space to stretch out and meet friends
The forecourt of the Art Gallery of NSW also got a welcome makeover, with 2 polished granite reflection pools now flanking the familiar entrance.
Public use of the space is now greatly expanded, thanks to the forecourt’s design.
Sydney Modern is Australia’s first public art museum to have receive a 6-star Green Star design rating.
Check out its 9 day festival to celebrate the opening.
Open every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day.
See the gallery’s opening hours.
Free entry