SYDNEY.- The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) presents an exhibition program celebrating the breadth and diversity of contemporary Australian art.
MCA Australia’s program showcases 34 artists from and working in Australia today with two new exhibitions - Warraba Weatherall: Shadow and Substance, the first solo museum exhibition by the Kamilaroi artist and The Intelligence of Painting, which showcases contemporary Australian painting through the work of 14 women artists, and the 2025 Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission, The Civilisation of the Abstract (2025), by Naarm/Melbourne based artist Diena Georgetti. Completing the program are new displays of MCA Collection: Artists in Focus presenting the work of 18 Australian artists, including rare and significant works from First Nations artists from across the country.
Suzanne Cotter, Director Museum of Contemporary Art Australia said, ‘As Australia’s only public museum dedicated to the work of living artists, we take great pride in exhibiting, collecting and commissioning contemporary art and supporting the work of artists throughout all stages of their career. This autumn we focus on new and innovative work by women artists living in and from Australia and First Nations artists, offering visitors a rich perspective on contemporary art in Australia.’
Warraba Weatherall: Shadow and Substance, features dynamic installation, sculpture and video works which critique narratives about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture found within archival and museum collections. These works draw attention to the ethics of how Indigenous property, cultural information and materials have been historically acquired and displayed.
Kamilaroi artist and educator Warraba Weatherall (b. 1987, Toowoomba, Queensland) foregrounds individual and community histories, including his own family’s experience, to highlight the gaps and biases of the colonial record, as well as its ongoing influence. The exhibition runs until 21 September 2025 and is curated by MCA Australia Curator Megan Robson. It premieres several new artworks created by the artist especially for this presentation, including Trace (2025) a major new co-commission between MCA Australia and the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025.
The Intelligence of Painting, curated by MCA Director Suzanne Cotter and MCA Curator Manya Sellers, presents paintings from 14 Australian women artists of different generations, who work across Australia and abroad,and showcases the vitality of contemporary painting in Australia today.
The exhibition, which runs until 20 July 2025, includes recent MCA Collection acquisitions, as well as new and recent paintings from the last six years and encompasses a range of different practices, techniques and mediums. Artists include: Karen Black (b.1961,Naarm/Melbourne), Angela Brennan (b.1960, Wadawurrung/Ballarat), Eleanor Louise Butt (b. 1981, Naarm/Melbourne), Prudence Flint (b.1962, Naarm/Melbourne), Maria Madeira (b. 1966, Gleno, Timor-Leste), Kerrie Poliness (b.1961, Naarm/Melbourne), Jude Rae (b.1956, Gadigal/Sydney), Jessica Rankin (b.1971, Gadigal/Sydney), Gemma Smith, (b.1978, Gadigal/Sydney), Jelena Telecki (b.1976, Yugoslavia) and Jenny Watson (b.1951, Naarm/Melbourne).
The exhibition also features the work of three exceptional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists: Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist Thea Anamara Perkins (b.1992, Gadigal/Sydney) the youngest artist in the exhibition, Warlpiri artist Julie Nangala Robertson (b.1973, Pauls Springs, Yendemu), Yolŋu artist Nayapnyapa. Yunupiŋu (1945-2021, Yirrkala, north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory).
Diena Georgetti (b.1966, Mparntwe/Alice Springs) is the latest artist to undertake the Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission, an ongoing series of temporary works for the Museum’s 15-metre-long entrance wall. For this commission The Civilisation of the Abstract (2025), Georgetti considers how artistic creation is evolving in a world grappling with artificial intelligence – the ability of machines to complete tasks usually requiring human thinking and decision-making.
Using an AI image generator, Georgetti has produced a collection of digital images that she has transformed into the paintings and prints that make up the commission. It depicts artists, art objects and people looking at art, reflecting her interest in how art is made, presented and experienced today. This approach builds on Georgetti’s longstanding practice of borrowing and remixing diverse imagery and styles. By using AI to inform the content of her work, tapping into what she calls a ‘collective subconscious’, the artist blends traditional methods of art-making with emerging technologies. The Civilisation of the Abstract (2025) is curated by MCA Curator Anna Davis and will be on display until 2026.
The autumn displays of MCA Collection: Artists in Focus in the Level 2 Galleries, feature the work of 18 Australian artists: Brook Andrew, Gordon Bennett, Joan Brassil, Timo Hogan, Rosemary Laing, David Noonan, as well as a collaboration by Jessica Rankin and American artist Julie Mehretu. Works by the late artist of the Dhuḏi-Djapu clan from Dhuruputjpi, in eastern Arnhem Land, Mulkun Wirrpanda are on display along with a communal presentation of painting, printmaking and sculpture by nine Tiwi artists including Timothy Cook, Raelene Kerinauia Lampuwatu, Maria Josette Orsto, Eddie Puruntatameri, Nina Puruntatameri, Cornelia Tipuamantumirri, Giovanni Tipungwuti, Bede Tungulatum and Pedro Wonaeamirri.
Highlights include a new acquisition of a major painting Lake Baker by Pitjantjatjara artist Timo Hogan and a rare opportunity to view the communal presentation of paintings and prints, from the Tiwi Islands. This Tiwi display presents the very first body of woodblock prints on rice paper produced by artists in the oldest, and longest running Aboriginal art centre, Tiwi Designs. Another highlight is a display honouring artist Rosemary Laing (1959–2024), whose iconic photographic images address the histories and social realities that haunt the Australian landscape.
