Image: Portrait Yayoi Kusama 2007 Courtesy and © the artist.

Museum of Contemporary Art unveils 2009 exhibition program*

Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art has unveiled a dynamic 2009 exhibition program featuring major solo exhibitions by internationally acclaimed artists Olafur Eliasson and Yayoi Kusama as well as survey shows of leading Australian artists Ricky Maynard, Louisa Burfadeci and Fiona Foley.

The launch of the 2009 exhibition program comes as the MCA continues to clock record visitor attendances. From January until October this year 461,594 people have visited MCA exhibitions, putting the MCA on track for its highest annual attendance figure in the its 17-year history.

MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor said: “The popularity of MCA exhibitions continues to grow, and this year we have been boosted by record numbers for the Fiona Hall: Force Field and Biennale of Sydney exhibitions. We expect this upward trend to continue in 2009, thanks to an exciting new exhibition and education program that we
believe will attract a diverse audience. In particular, our exhibition of work by the highly acclaimed Olafur Eliasson is sure to attract large numbers.”

Take Your Time, by Olafur Eliasson, is the first full-scale survey of work by the contemporary Icelandic artist to have been seen in Australia. Eliasson is among the most influential and widely acclaimed artists of his generation. His light-filled environments, walk-in kaleidoscopes and unique participatory artworks examine the intersection of nature and science, and the boundary between the organic and the artificial.

The MCA has partnered with the San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art to present the exhibition, which gathers works from major public and private collections worldwide and includes installations, large-scale immersive environments, sculpture and photography.

The MCA has partnered with Netherland’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen to present a major solo exhibition of work by prolific and internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Mirrored Years covers 40 years of practice and presents film, performance documentation, sculpture, installation and painting, including a recent body of 50 new print works.

The MCA’s popular Primavera exhibition, which presents work by Australian artists aged 35 years and under, celebrates its 18th year in 2009. The guest curator for Primavera 2009 is Melbourne-based curator and writer Jeff Khan.

The work of Indigenous documentary photographer Ricky Maynard is the focus of a solo exhibition, Portrait of a Distant Land. Maynard’s starkly beautiful black-and-white photographs record cultural and historical sites significant to his people — the Ben Lomond and Cape Portland peoples of Tasmania — creating a form of visual diary. This exhibition was first presented in 2007 at the Australian Embassy in Paris as part of the inaugural Photoquai Biennale of World Images organised by the Musee du quai Branly.

To complement this exhibition, Ricky Maynard has selected work by leading documentary photographers who have influenced his own professional practice. Revealing Moments in Time includes work by members of the f/64 group of West Coast American photographers such as Edward Weston.

The next in the series of MCA international pairing projects forms the genesis for a solo exhibition of work by Melbourne artist Louisa Bufardeci. This series seeks to position Australian contemporary art within a wider, global dialogue by featuring an Australian artist alongside an international peer of their choice.

Burfadeci frequently draws upon statistical data in her art, sourcing information from the public domain including the CIA Fact Book, the national census and opinion polls. She translates this information into wall drawings, sculptures, installations as well as colourful digital charts, maps and architectural diagrams which draw playful attention to gaps, biases and inequalities. For her MCA exhibition, Bufardeci will create a site specific floor piece in the museum’s George Street foyer, comprising statistical data about Sydney’s population.

The MCA has partnered with the University of Queensland Art Museum to present an exhibition by Fiona Foley, one of Australia’s most significant artists. A Badtjala woman from Fraser Island in Queensland, Foley is known for her diverse practice which spans two decades and encompasses painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, mixed media, found objects and installation. With a history of exhibitions featuring uncompromising titles such as No shades of White and Lick My Black Art, Foley traces the ongoing significance of Australia’s colonial histories.

The MCA collection will be the inspiration for an exhibition of artists whose works have been informed by Australian literature, titled Avoiding Myth & Message: Australian Artists and the Literary World. Public programs will form an integral part of this exhibition, including readings, performance, DIY publishing and a repeat of the successful MCA zine fair, first held in May 2008.

Throughout 2009, the MCA will also present three group exhibitions centred on the work of contemporary Australian artists:

§ Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art presents a selection of contemporary artists who have been practising for a decade or more.

§ I Walk the Line: New Australian Drawing celebrates the renaissance of drawing in contemporary Australian art. It considers new approaches to drawing and the reinvigoration of drawing practice by many (mostly young) artists from across the nation.

§ Rising Tide: Film & Video Works from the MCA Collection showcases film and video works by contemporary Australian artists, acquired over the past six years. It includes work by Destiny Deacon, Shaun Gladwell, The Kingpins, David Noonan, Susan Norrie, Patricia Piccinini and Daniel von Sturmer. This exhibition was first presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, California and represents the second in a two-part exchange of collections between the MCA Sydney and MCA San Diego.

*Based on media release issued by the MCA.