SYDNEY.- Australasia’s premier art Fair, Sydney Contemporary, in partnership with MA Financial Group, attracted over 25,000 visitors and recorded over $21million in sales over five days at the Fair, with further sales expected over the next few days. Held at multi-arts precinct Carriageworks from 7–10 September 2023, Sydney Contemporary represents the highest concentration of art sales annually in Australasia, a significant boost to the art market, and critical to the growth of contemporary art in the region.

Sydney Contemporary 2023 saw the Fair’s largest edition to date featuring 96 emerging and established galleries and over 500 artists from Australia, New Zealand, and around the world. The Fair provides an incredible opportunity for collectors, curators, art lovers and institutions from across Australasia to come together on a grand scale to view thousands of contemporary artworks, and enjoy installations, performances and talks. Galleries showcased the best of Australian, Indigenous, and international art, attracting high profile collectors and visitors from across Australia, New Zealand, America, Belgium, France, Japan, Indonesia and South America.

Since its foundation in 2013, Sydney Contemporary has established itself as Australasia’s premier art fair, regularly attracting over 25,000 visitors at each edition and recording more than AU$100million in art sales since its launch.

Tim Etchells, Founder, Sydney Contemporary, said: “We are thrilled by the success of this year’s Sydney Contemporary, representing our largest edition to date and once again confirming its position as the region's premier art fair. This year we saw excellent visitation and sales, with high calibre art collectors, art lovers, curators and institutions travelling from all over the world to celebrate one of the most anticipated and critical events on Australia’s cultural calendar”.

MA Financial Managing Director and Head of Asset Management, Andrew Martin, said: “There’s no doubt that Sydney Contemporary has firmly established itself as a must-attend art event, providing a unique opportunity to experience the latest in contemporary art. At MA Financial, we’re proud of our role in helping Sydney Contemporary provide this platform for emerging and established artists and contributing to a thriving cultural sector for all Australians.”

Galleries reported a successful Fair experience with directors offering the following testimonials:

• Beverly Knight, Director, Alcaston Gallery (Melbourne) said: “The 2023 iteration of Sydney Contemporary has once again raised the bar for world class art experiences by creating an open, free flowing art fair with tempting and exciting views of stands providing significant benefit for visitors; a diverse array of artworks from international and established galleries blending seamlessly with emerging galleries, creating a sumptuous visual feast for collectors and art lovers alike.”

• David Haggar, Co-Director, Blackartprojects (Melbourne) said: “Reflecting on the past ten years of showings at Sydney Contemporary, it is clear that the fair is such a critical component to our annual program for a variety of reasons - connection and collaboration being at the forefront. More importantly, it shows how important the fair is in providing a platform for the artists we have worked with, many of whom have gone on to be represented by leading national and international galleries, public gallery acquisitions and institutional projects.”

• Justin Miller, Founder and Director, Justin Miller Art (Sydney) said: “This has been a well curated fair with very solid sales. It’s a huge credit to the organisers who have worked tirelessly to ensure that Sydney Contemporary continues to be the largest and most popular art fair in the country.”

• D'Lan Davidson, Director and Founder, D’Lan Contemporary (Melbourne) said: “Sydney Contemporary has been incredibly successful for our gallery this year and we have had a great response to the curation of our booth. Our sales highlight of the week would have to be the significant work by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, which we sold for AU$550,000 to an undisclosed Australian institution. It was wonderful to connect with our Sydney clients but having a presence at the fair has also gained us new followers, as many of the works sold were to buyers we have never dealt with before.”

• Roslyn Oxley, Founder and Director, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (Sydney) said: “Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery has had a wonderful experience sharing a remarkable body of work by Dhambit Munuŋgurr at Sydney Contemporary 2023. With a large-scale installation of bark paintings and larrakitj it has been a fantastic opportunity to present a comprehensive body of new work to new and known collectors from across Australia and abroad. The VIP preview was full of a high calibre of collectors and curators. We have had a hugely successful fair with a sell-out exhibition.”




• Emilia Galatis, Director, EG Projects (Western Australia) said: “We are over the moon with the sales and response to Martu painter Corban Clause Williams and Bard pearl shell carver Garry Sibosado. EG Projects believes in art as an agent of change; shining a light on the diverse talent from remote WA. To be able to have such an impact here in our country’s largest market and have access to new clients and collectors is essential for new galleries like us and the early career artists that we represent.”


Notable sales included:

• Artbank, part of the Australian Government Office for the Arts, acquired key works by leading contemporary artists Marion Abraham (Sullivan + Strumpf), Matthew Bromhead (OLSEN Gallery), Gaypalani Wanambi (Michael Reid), Helen Garrawurra Ganalmirriwuy (Sabbia Gallery), Andre Lipscombe (Art Collective WA) and Nathan Hawkes (Chalkhorse), totalling $52,700.

• D’Lan Contemporary sold a work by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri for $550,000 AUD to an undisclosed Australian Institution.

• Justin Miller Art recorded strong sales for major works by Cressida Campbell, Jeffrey Smart, a monumental bronze sculpture by Clement Meadmore, a sell out of rare works from the 1950’s by Andy Warhol, and a work by Bronwyn Oliver was acquired by The National Gallery of Australia.

• Chalkhorse sold a major work by Mechelle Bounpraseuth to Bendigo Art Gallery.

Outstanding gallery booth presentations were supported by a program including Installation Contemporary, Performance Contemporary, Talk Contemporary and Create Contemporary.

Installation Contemporary, curated by Sarah Hetherington, featured 13 large-scale installations by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Alex Seton, Brian Robinson, Jenna Lee, Jon Rafman, Julie Rrap, Lindy Lee, Louise Zhang, Nabilah Nordin, Roy Wiggan, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, Sam Jinks and Tony Garifalakis.

Performance Contemporary, curated by Samantha Watson-Wood, saw a diverse and dynamic program of experimental and ephemeral performance works across the week by Amala Groom, Riana Head-Toussaint, Morgan Hogg and Fetu Taku.

Talk Contemporary offered an engaging program of curated talks by industry leaders from art, architecture and design, curated by Samantha Watson-Wood and Karen McCartney. The talks explored topical themes including love and identity, designing spaces for art and different approaches to collecting.

The winner of the inaugural acquisitive $10,000 MA Art Prize was awarded to emerging Manyjilyjarra artist Corban Clause Williams, who exhibited with EG Projects within the FUTURE sector of the Fair. The prize has been established to help identify, promote and realise the potential of emerging artists in Australia.

Sydney Contemporary, in partnership with MA Financial Group, will return next year from 5 - 8 September 2024, with the Collector Preview on 4 September 2024.