SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR - DAN KYLE, MIRANDA SKOCZEK, MARK WHALEN, YARRENYTY ARLTERE ARTISTS

"10 of the hottest Australian artists to have on your radar"

Written by Yeong Sassall, January 2025

"Dan's work captures the beauty and mystique of the Australian bush, blending figuration and abstraction through layered marks and tones that mimic the natural movement around him. His attention to light and shadow is personally my favourite part of his work.”

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IMAGE:

Dan Kyle

Devils Creek Track 2024

oil and mixed media on canvas

85.5 x 127.5 cm

The Desert Mob exhibition by Desart showcases works from 35 art centres across Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Among the artworks, were a series of ink paintings and soft sculptures by Yarrenyty Arletere Artists.

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Miranda Skoczek has been a guest on ABC Radio National, delving into the new direction of her current exhibition at Post Space in Exeter, England. In a vibrant conversation with Kimberly Price, Miranda explains the deeply personal body of work, and her distinctive abstract painting.

LISTEN HERE

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Miranda Skoczek with her exhibition 'Red Ribbons', Post Space, Exeter, courtesy the artist

At the time they both connected over their love for nature and now, roughly 10 years later Miranda has collaborated with Katie [Kolodinski] to curate The Protection Collection. Centred around symbolism and the rituals of self-protection including the iconic Aster flower, central to Katie’s upbringing, this was a harmonious alignment given Miranda’s style of art which is deeply influenced by historical references and ancient cultures.

For Miranda, her art allows people to explore other worlds and she hopes that placing her designs on clothing encourages people to have those conspectus conversations as well.

In line with this creative endeavour, she shared insights on her practices, creating the collection and her relationship with symbolism.

- Silk Laundry

IMAGE:

Courtesy Silk Laundry

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Arrernte and Southern Luritja artist Sally M Nangala Mulda alongside Arrernte and Western Arrarnta artist Marlene Rubuntja have developed their practice to be completely recognisable and representative of the place in which they live, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Working from Tangentyere Artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists (art centres), these senior women have established themselves as two of Australia’s leading visual artists.

The third Artbank + ACMI Commission, Two Girls From Amoonguna, encompasses video, soft sculpture and paintings, with the centerpiece the animated work titled Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls.

Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls delves into the reality of First Peoples’ experiences in Central Australia by chronicling the artists’ successes and struggles. The work centres Sally and Marlene’s voices, as well as the voices of their younger family members, who can be heard in the animation. It was made in collaboration with Ludo Studio, the Emmy-award winning production company behind Bluey, Robbie Hood and The Strange Chores, along with script writer Courtney Collins, Left of Elephant Sound and Tangentyere Artists producer Ellanor Webb.

Figures from Marlene’s soft sculptures and Sally’s acrylic on linen paintings star in the animation, embedded on top of Marlene’s ink on paper works of the Central Australian landscape. Bringing together both artists’ practice, Sally’s iconic cursive painted lettering produce the subtitles.

Having grown up at the Amoonguna Settlement outside of Mparntwe/Alice Springs in the early 1960s, the two friends wouldn’t reconnect until much later in life, after both of them had seen their fair amount of hardships; now having achieved so much, they are immensely proud of one another.

Two Girls from Amoonguna is an exhibition about two of Australia’s leading artists and their journey to get there.

IMAGES:

1/ Sally M Nangala Mulda at Tarnanthi, 2019

2/ Marlene Rubuntja holding a soft echidna sculpture

WATCH HERE

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Miranda Skoczek is featured in ‘Artists at Home’ a new book about Australian female artists by Karina Dias Pires, published by Thames and Hudson, out now.

IMAGE:

Miranda Skoczek, courtesy Karina Dias Pires

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There is more to Miranda Skoczek’s paintings than immediately meets the eye. They are built intuitively and in layers, from colours, patterns and objects that she absorbs in her immediate home environment – and all over the world. They are often abstract, sometimes with figurative elements; they focus on paint and colour, process and time, to create a space that takes us somewhere other, outside the material world. Inspiration comes from art and antiquities, folk art and contemporary design – and through obsessive consumption of images. Skoczek describes herself as “a sponge,” confessing to VAULT: “I have 95,000 photographs on my phone.”

The mystical is evident in Skoczek’s hope that her paintings work like amulets for those who acquire them. Protective elements aside, in their sensual textures and influences, so powerfully evoked, these paintings emerge as poignant and poetic visual essays written to the past and the present."\

- Louise Martin-Chew, Vault Magazine

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Front Cover of Vault Magazine, Issue 37, 2022, featuring Miranda Skoczek's Dreaming of Betty (Woodman), 2018

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Dan Kyle's work is part of Wangaratta Art Gallery's exhibition 'Contemporary Landscape Perspectives: A Group Show' from 13 March – 30 May 2021.

This dynamic exhibition of five contemporary landscape Australian painters, Max Berry, Holly Greenwood, Dan Kyle, Bronte Leighton-Dore and Andrew Pye explores individual perspectives of elements of the Australian bush, the terrain, landscape and key symbolism of trees and flora in their immediate environment.

All five artists are emerging as contemporary painters in the Australian art scene. Berry, Greenwood, Kyle and Leighton-Dore are New South Wales based (Sydney and Blue Mountains), the four have partnered with local artist Andy Pye, the group have connections both through friendship but also their oeuvre, their painting practice and style. Each artists surrounding environments are re-interpreted in large scale paintings and works on paper.

This collection of artists and their work presents a diversity of expression and contemporary representation of the Australian Bush.

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Copywriter and content specialist Elle McClure was asked by the team at Medium Rare Content agency to help produce content for the autumn 2021 issue of the David Jones magazine, JONES HOME. As well as compiling trend pages and writing copy across the issue, Elle interviewed Otis Hope Carey, Louise Olsen and Miranda Skoczek as part of profiles on the artists.

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Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Tangentyere Artists, Blak Parliament House, 2021, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony.

Blak Parliament House is a 2021 installation of soft sculptures and paintings created collaboratively by members of Yarrenyty Altere Artists and Tangentyere Artists, Aboriginal-run art centres located in Mpwarnte/Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The structure is surrounded by people, animals, meetings and debates, as well as placards protesting the treatment of Aboriginal people.

The soft sculptures, created by members of Yarrenyty Altere Artists, are made from reclaimed woollen blankets, carefully dyed with pigments sourced from local plants, tea, and corroding metal, embellished with brightly coloured woollen thread and feathers. Alongside this is a series of paintings taking the form of placards created by artists from Tangentyere Artists, they bear slogans such as ‘SAFE WATER FOR EVERYONE’ and ‘OUR KIDS BELONG WITH US’.

For many First Nations peoples, especially those living in remote and regional areas, Kamberri/Canberra is seen as a distant place where decisions are made that affect their everyday lives. This interpretation of Parliament House shows Aboriginal people and others meeting, debating, and taking an active role in the political process.

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Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Tangentyere Artists

Blak Parliament House 2021

National Gallery of Australia

LISTEN TO MARLENE RUBUNJA AND READ MORE HERE

For the first time in its 22 year history, the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship has been awarded to five artists, one of whom is Dan Kyle.

Congratulations Charlie Ingemar Harding (Victoria), Emily Grace Imeson (NSW), Dan Kyle (NSW), Lily Platts (NSW) and Georgia Spain (Tasmania).

Art Gallery of New South Wales Director, Michael Brand, said that in one of the most challenging years the arts community has ever experienced he’s delighted that the Scholarship could be awarded, albeit in a different format.

‘That the Scholarship this year is shared between five artists instead of a single artist speaks to the moment we’re in, where we all need to work together and find new ways of thinking for the benefit of our community.

‘The Scholarship remains a prestigious, national painting award and I welcome all five recipients to the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship alumni who have, like Brett Whiteley before them, had their worlds open up as a result of being offered this opportunity to spend time creating work in a new location,’ Brand said.

'Artefacts', Alison Kubler, Vault Magazine, Issue 23, 104-105pp.

Dan Kyle's work 'Caught in a Haze' has been selected as a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize

Established in 1947, the Mosman Art Prize is Australia's oldest and most prestigious local government art award. As an acquisitive art award for painting, the winning artworks collected form a splendid collection of modern and contemporary Australian art, reflecting developments in Australian art practice since 1947. Artists who have won the Mosman Art Prize include Margaret Olley, Guy Warren, Grace Cossington Smith, Weaver Hawkins, Nancy Borlase, Lloyd Rees, Elisabeth Cummings, Adam Cullen, Michael Zavros and Natasha Walsh.

Until 27 October 2019, Mosman Art Gallery

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In 2015 Owen Craven wrote about Dan Kyle, his studio and life in the bush near the Blue Mountains —

Soon after graduating from the National Art School, Dan Kyle set up home deep within the Australian bush at the foot of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. His paintings are translations of what he sees – the beauty, the unique forms, the colours – but also his way of reducing the density of the bush to a more approachable landscape for him to keep exploring. Back in Issue 32, 2015, Artist Profile chatted to Dan about the formal and conceptual nuances of his landscapes.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

In celebration of Gorman’s decade-long collaboration with visual artists, Heide is presenting a two-week pop-up exhibition in the iconic modernist building, Heide II.

The exhibition will feature garments from a new range by Gorman created in collaboration with ten artists who have worked with the Australian clothing label since 2009, including Miranda Skoczek. The garments will be displayed alongside the artworks which inspired them.

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Miranda Skoczek, Julian Meagher and John Aslanidis are finalists in The Kings School Art Prize 2018.

The King’s Art Prize is a $20,000 acquisitive award presented to the best contemporary artwork created by an artist resident in Australia and represented by a commercial gallery, supporting both the artists and the fine arts industry. Entry is by invitation only and the finalists are selected by an appointed Art Prize panel.

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Now in its 15th year, the annual Paddington Art Prize is a national acquisitive award for a painting inspired by the Australian landscape – a significant contemporary genre with a long tradition in Australian painting and a key contributor to our national ethos.

The Paddington Art Prize offers $30,000 to the overall winner. Louisa Antico from Sofala Cottage will offer a selected artist a one week retreat at her historic miner’s cottage in Sofala in the Turon Valley, 40km north of Bathurst on the road to Hill End; and Defiance Gallery Directors, Campbell Robertson-Swann and Lauren Harvey will select two artists to have an exhibition with Defiance Gallery at Mary Place Gallery in Sydney. Winners of the Defiance Gallery Prize will also receive an invitation to the Nock Art Foundation Residency, Queenstown, New Zealand during 2019 including three weeks accommodation at ‘Giverny’ with studio facilities.

Charmaine Pike is a finalist in 2018.

Image: Charmaine Pike The Soft Pink Truth 2018, 120 x 150cm, acrylic on canvas

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The Gallery is delighted to announce we now represent Charmaine Pike.

The paintings of Charmaine Pike allude to the remote landscape, its geographical features and natural formations, embedded or rather personified with human emotion. Her use of bold lines, form and colour probe deep into the human condition, dealing with psychological tensions within the self and the environment we inhabit.

Melissa Pesa, Artist Profile November 2017

Charmaine was selected as a finalist in The Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing in 2010, The Mosman Art Prize 2013, The Paddington Art Prize 2015 and 2016. In 2012, her solo exhibition at Tamworth Regional Gallery was met with great acclaim. In 2014 she was selected by Angus Nivison for ‘Place and Practice’ the Regional Arts Australia National Visual Arts Showcase in Parliament House, Canberra. 

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Yarrenyty Arltere Artists 'In Our Hands' are soft sculptures made with bush dyed woollen blankets, embellished with wool and feathers for the 21st Biennale of Sydney.

Participating Artists:

Cornelius Ebatarinja (Western Arrernte/Arrernte), Trudy Inkamala (Western Arrernte/Luritja), Roxanne Petrick (Alyawarre), Sonya Petrick (Eastern Arrernte/Alyawarre), Dulcie Raggett (Luritja), Marlene Rubuntja (Arrernte), Katherine Ryder (Eastern Arrernte), Rosabella Ryder (Arrernte), Dulcie Sharpe (Luritja/Arrernte), Rhonda Sharpe (Luritja)

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists is a not-for-profit Aboriginal owned and run art centre located in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp, Alice Springs, one of the oldest Town Camp communities on Arrernte country.

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists present a series of the whimsical soft sculptures that demonstrate the unique style for which they are renowned. Representing the past, present and future, the pieces reflect memory and traditional stories as well as exploring contemporary issues and challenges faced by the community. Embodying local flora and fauna, stories of family and country, or scenes from everyday life in the Town Camp, the sculptures are made from recycled woollen blankets which are dyed using local plants, tea and corroded metal. Embroidered with brightly coloured wool thread and embellished with feathers, the soft sculptures are filled with character and humour. They are emblematic of the vitality of the Town Camp and its people, and the ingenuity of the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists who, through creativity and perseverance, have reignited the confidence and spirit of their community.

- Museum of Contemporary Art, 2018

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Installation view 'SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement', Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2018. Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Georgie and Alastair Taylor.

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Congratulations to the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists for their work now on show in the National Gallery of Victoria triennial.

Victoria Amazonica 2017, was created by Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana in collaboration with Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, designers Elliat Rich and James Young and the Centre for Appropriate Technology – all based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Based initially on a sketch Humberto Campana made in Alice Springs of a giant South American lily, this exuberant, large-scale soft domed structure features intricate embroidery by the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists that tells stories of rain, rivers and water.

The Gallery is delighted to be exhibiting work by the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists from the Larapinta Town Camp in Alice Springs. This exhibition coincides with the Artists inclusion in the 2018 Sydney Biennale with a series of works at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and in collaboration with Brazil's Campana Brothers for the National Gallery of Victoria's Triennial.

Originally established in 2000 as a response to the chronic social issues faced by the town camp, Yarrenyty Arltere Town Camp Artists started as an arts training project. In 2002 the community identified the enterprise as a goal and in 2008 the enterprise was established. Now a vibrant and dynamic hub, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists is seen as an important part in rebuilding strength in the community and creating economic access for people, many of whom had not been engaged previously in the workforce. Now people are participating in regular work, there is a vehicle for social inclusiveness and the activities in the art centre have provided real and engaging pathways into the wider society.

10 — 28 April 2018 at Edwina Corlette Gallery

Dan Kyle has been featured on the Planthunter, who visited Dan at his spectacular home and studio in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The Planthunter is an online magazine devoted to celebrating plants and the varied ways humans interact with them. Plants have been inspiring, feeding, sustaining and soothing humans for aeons. The Planthunter documents and celebrates these connections. 

'The rusted metal entrance gate rolls open revealing a four-meter-tall man with a gas mask staring at us from amongst the trees. A collection of huge sculptures lay scattered around him – the scene creates quite an entry statement, heightening my curiosity about the man we’ve headed up to the mountains to meet, artist Dan Kyle.'

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

The Gallery is delighted to now represent Dan Kyle.  

Owen Craven profiled Dan and his practice in a recent online article for Artist Profile magazine.

'Soon after graduating from the National Art School, Dan Kyle set up home deep in the Australian bush at the foot of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.  His paintings are translations of what he sees - the beauty, the unique forms, the colours - but also his way of reducing the density of the bush to a more approachable landscape for him to keep exploring.'

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Melissa Pesa interviews Charmaine Pike in the November edition of Artist profile magazine. She writes:

The paintings of Charmaine Pike allude to the remote landscape, its geographical features and natural formations, embedded or rather personified with human emotion. Her use of bold lines, form and colour probe deep into the human condition, dealing with psychological tensions within the self and the environment we inhabit.

READ MORE HERE

Miranda Skoczek's exhibition 'Rag Rugs and Lion Heads' is featured on the Art Guide website. Miranda spoke with Louise Martin-Chew about her latest exhibition 'Rag Rugs and Lion Heads', her inspiration and the shift in her practice to looser, more expressive works:

Miranda Skoczek’s abstract paintings evoke old walls with layers of forms and shapes that emerge over time. In her studio, she might work simultaneously on nine canvases. Transferring from one to the other, she allows each oil layer to dry before repeatedly painting over it until jewel-like colours resonate and a spatial sensibility has been established within which the viewer may dwell. Skoczek told Art Guide Australia, “I don’t paint about social concerns. I create wholly immersive, beautiful pictures. They are places for escape and restoration: harmonious, calming pictures.”

- Louise Martin Chew

Miranda's exhibition is at the gallery from 14 November until 5 December 2017.

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Miranda Skoczek was a featured artist in the international group exhibition, The human experience, we are the ones doing works on canvas/Paintings XXXX at the Carlsberg Byens Galleri & Kunstsalon in Denmark. The exhibition was curated by Galina Munroe (Great Britain), Simon Ganshorn (Denmark) and Jordan Kerwick (Australia). The show featured 116 artists each working with abstraction through painting in their own distinct manner to promote diversity and highlight the possibility of medium and painting theory.

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Miranda Skoczek presents her first collection of jewellery works at Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival 2017.

In DESHILADO, Miranda pays homage to the samplers created by stitchers in the early 16th Century. The collection is a three dimensional gathering of a myriad of interests and influences remixing materials and techniques, blurring the boundaries between objects, jewellery and art.

With a desire to connect ancient traditions with fashion, while acknowledging the archaeological importance of jewellery as artefact, Skoczek takes the opportunity to bring permanency to ornaments that have up to this point existed as abstract fragments in her paintings.

The exhibition is current until 25 March 2017.

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Miranda Skoczek is featured on The Design Files blog with a look at her move from an inner city two bedroom apartment, to a bucolic retreat set amongst the verdant landscape of the Dandenong Ranges. Miranda and her seven year old son Harper speak about the influence of nature on their lives and the impact a move to the country will have on her painting practice.

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Miranda Skoczek and her son, courtesy Caitlin Mills

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Miranda Skoczek is renowned for her engaging, energetic works and her spectacular use of colour. A fixture on the Australian art scene, her work is instantly recognisable for its layers of intuitive colour, pattern and motifs. Iconic Australian label Country Road thought her work was perfect for a collaboration with charity RedKite. Miranda has designed two tote bags and a t-shirt, with all proceeds from each sale going towards providing essential support to children and their families who are facing cancer.

IMAGE:

Miranda Skoczek in her home, courtesy Country Road

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Mark Whalen recently painted the 6th St Mural at The Standard Hotel in Los Angeles. Each month, the Standard invites an artist to paint a mural, often to comment on urban development and contemporary culture. The mural is a twelve by twenty-four meter public art space, located on a major public thoroughfare adjacent to the Standard. Photographer Bobby Alderman captured Mark in action.

View more work by Mark Whalen here.

Miranda Skoczek has collaborated with Gorman Clothing for their 2015 winter collection. In sync with the label’s aesthetic, Miranda’s artwork blends seamlessly into signature Gorman textures and styles. Her work is featured across all 53 pieces in the collection, with every print originating from five of her artworks.

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Mark Whalen features in the group exhibition ‘Data Flow: Digital Influence’ at the Town Hall Gallery in Hawthorn, Victoria. The exhibition will run from 3 March – 12 April, 2015 and features a wide range of artists and artworks investigating how data flows through the productions of art in an increasingly digital world.