Curators Launch Alternative Exhibition Models as Gallery Costs Rise
With the increasing expenses of commercial galleries, independent curators are establishing innovative exhibition spaces. Consuelo Cavaniglia and Brendan Van Hek, who launched Sydney's ARI Sydenham International, will shut down their venue at the end of the year due to soaring rents. However, they maintain a positive outlook towards emerging spaces like Solvent and Numbers. On 12 September, they will curate ARI BANAL(E), a unique one-day exhibition at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra, showcasing five ARIs across six hotel rooms with unconventional installations. Cavaniglia emphasizes the necessity of sales for artists. Meanwhile, in Western Australia, Bayoush Demissie started Aster + Asha Gallery in 2021, merging online sales with pop-up shows. Both curators support diverse artistic voices and community involvement.
Key facts
- Sydenham International, founded by Consuelo Cavaniglia and Brendan Van Hek, will close at the end of the year due to rising rents in Sydney's Inner-West.
- Cavaniglia and Van Hek are curating ARI BANAL(E), a one-day exhibition at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra on 12 September as part of the Canberra Art Biennial.
- ARI BANAL(E) invites five other ARIs to show in six hotel rooms, with installations in unexpected places like bathtubs.
- The event is inspired by Melbourne's Spring 1883 and New York's Gramercy International Art Fair (1994-1998).
- Bayoush Demissie founded Aster + Asha Gallery in 2021 as a digital platform with a hybrid model of online and in-person exhibitions.
- Aster + Asha Gallery recently showed WA artist Anna Richardson's work at Lawson Flats, a co-working space in Perth.
- Cavaniglia emphasizes that purchasing art is one of the best ways to support artists, providing income and placing work in collections.
- New ARI spaces in Sydney include Solvent in Annandale, Numbers in King Cross, and Conor O'Shea's SydneySydney.
Entities
Artists
- Consuelo Cavaniglia
- Brendan Van Hek
- Anna Louise Richardson
- Conor O'Shea
- Bayoush Demissie
Institutions
- Sydenham International
- Aster + Asha Gallery
- Canberra Art Biennial
- Hyatt Hotel Canberra
- Spring 1883
- Gramercy International Art Fair
- Solvent
- Numbers
- SydneySydney
- Lawson Flats
- ArtsHub
Locations
- Sydney
- Australia
- Perth
- Boorloo
- Canberra
- Annandale
- King Cross
- Melbourne
- New York
- Queensland
- Western Australia