Art Wank

• Episode 240 - Inside the Archive: Curating The Boyd Women at Bundanon with Curator Sophie O'Brien

  Send us a textIn this episode of Artwank, we visit Bundanon to discuss the current exhibition, 'The Hidden Line The Art of the Boyd Women', with curator Sophie O’Brien. The exhibition brings attention to the women of the Boyd family (Arthur Boyd was a celebrated Australian artist, leaving his home, the Bundanon estate, to support the arts) and their role in Australian art and cultural life. While the Boyd name is often associated with male artists, this show focuses on the work, lives and influence of the women who shaped the legacy in ways that have often been overlooked.Sophie O’Brien joins us to talk through the curatorial process behind the exhibition. She reflects on how the project developed, how works and archival materials were selected, and the challenges of representing multiple generations of women across different creative practices. The conversation explores what it means to reframe established art histories and how institutions like Bundanon can open space for stories that have not always been centred.Sophie O’Brien is a curator at Bundanon where she works across exhibitions, collections and research. She has held roles at major public institutions and has worked on a wide range of projects spanning historical and contemporary art. Her practice is grounded in close engagement with artists, archives and place, with a focus on bringing new perspectives to existing collections.This episode looks at the labour of curating, the gaps that still exist in art history and how exhibitions like The Boyd Women can shift public understanding of legacy, authorship and recognition. It is a conversation about process, responsibility and the ongoing work of making space for women within cultural narratives.Thanks for chatting to us SophieRecorded November 2025Exhibition on until 15th February 2026'The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women repositions the creative practices of five generations of women from one of Australia’s most prominent artistic dynasties. Showcasing more than 300 powerful and diverse works, this timely exhibition brings into focus the women of the Boyd family – artists, designers, writers, and creative collaborators – whose contributions have long been influential yet overshadowed by their celebrated male counterparts.Revealing a remarkable matrilineal line of artistic practices, the exhibition will present works by Emma Minnie a’Beckett Boyd, Lady Mary Nolan, Yvonne Boyd, Lucy Boyd Beck, Hermia Boyd and their descendents still practicing today including Lucy Boyd, Polly Boyd, Florence Boyd Williams and Ellen Boyd Green. Drawn largely from the Bundanon Collection, with key loans from the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Library, and Heide Museum of Modern Art, the exhibi

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• Bonus Episode 239 - Fiona Verity the National Art School years

  Send us a textToday we’re bringing you a special bonus episode of Art Wank to celebrate the graduation exhibition of our very own co-host, Fiona Verity. Fiona has been knee-deep in her studies, working tirelessly to create an incredible body of work, and you can see it on display tonight at the National Art School BFA Graduation Exhibition — Thursday, 4 December from 6pm. Get yourself down there and take in everything that’s on show. Julie spoke to Fiona about the development of her drawing practice over her three years at NAS, how it has steadied her, focused her work, and made it quieter. Fiona talks about how much she used the NAS library, especially the drawing section, where she believes she may have borrowed more books than any other student! She also reflects on the importance of peer support and peer learning at the National Art School, and how it shapes and extends your work. Fiona has dedicated her degree show to her stepmother, who passed away earlier this year. Her grief has been worked through print, stitch, paint, and drawing based on her stepmother’s garden.Fiona was also chosen as a finalist in the Kedumba drawing Award 2025!We are very proud of you Fiona, cant wait to see what you do next!  

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• Episode 238 - Art and the Unscripted World of Zoe Young

  Send us a textZoe Young is an Australian painter whose work spans still life, portraiture and abstraction. She studied at the National Art School in Sydney and earned her BFA in 2012. Zoe currently has a show on at Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne until 13th Dec 2025.In our conversation with Zoe, she spoke openly about the unusual path she took into the art world and how that path shaped the way she works today. She described leaving the National Art School twice, once as a young student who felt unready for the demands of formal training and again when life pulled her toward the buzz of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Young grew up between Sydney, rural New South Wales and alpine-region settings, spending part of her childhood in a ski lodge on the edge of the Kosciuszko National Park. In her paintings Young often applies sculptural thinking (she studied sculpture at NAS), she sees canvas as form, composing her subjects with an awareness of planes, space, and structural balance. Her still lifes might show commonplace items, her portraits draw out character and story, and her abstractions explore shape, light, and composition.Her work has earned recognition: she won the Portia Geach Memorial Award in 2018 for a portrait titled Drawing Storyboards (of film director Bruce Beresford), chosen from hundreds of entries across the nation. More broadly she has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Australia and had a solo exhibition titled “STILL.LIFE.” in Los Angeles. Zoe is represented by Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne and Phillip Bacon in Brisbane. 

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• Episode 237 - Harrie Fasher - Bending metal and breaking rules

  Send us a textWe interviewed Harrie Fasher, sculptor and artist, at her large studio in Portland NSW in November 2025. She is a permanent artist in residence at The Foundations in Portland and has built a bronze foundry and sculpture studio over many years. She has a deep interest in animals, especially horses, and her work shows a strong understanding of their bodies and movement.Harrie spoke about her daily practice and the way she shapes each piece through drawing and metal work. Her studio holds many works in progress and shows the many stages of her process, from first sketches to full metal forms.Her role at The Foundations supports the growth of the arts site and also gives her space to pursue long term projects. The foundry allows her to cast works on site and gives her full control of each stage. She works with a small team and often teaches others about casting and metal work.Harrie described her bond with horses as central to her thinking. Her works show the frame and gesture of the animal and invite viewers to see how bodies move through space.Thanks Harrie, it was wonderful meeting you and seeing your work in the studio.Harrie is represented by King Street Gallery in Sydney and Australian Galleries in Melbourne.29 November 2025 – 22 February 2026 Orange Regional Gallery'Harrie Fasher: Before Dawn is a major solo exhibition featuring monumental bronze and concrete sculptures. This exhibition represents a pivotal moment in Fasher’s career, consolidating a decade of artistic and technical research at an ambitious scale. ‘Before Dawn’ explores resilience and transformation through material contrasts – weight against fragility, rawness against refinement.Harrie Fasher is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.'

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• Episode 236 - Decoding ‘Australian Abstraction’ with Rhonda Davis and Kon Gouriotis — Macquarie University Gallery

  Send us a textThis week Art Wank met Rhonda Davis, Curator of Macquarie University Gallery, and Kon Gouriotis, curator and editor of Artist Profile magazine. They recently curated an exhibition at Macquarie Gallery titled Australian Abstraction. We spoke with them about their thinking behind the exhibition, how they chose the artists involved, and the Macqaurie university Art Collection. 'The Australian Abstraction exhibition series continues its exploration of the evolving nature of abstraction within the Australian context. This second stage retraces the diversity, episodic developments, and layered narratives that have shaped abstraction as an enduring force in Australian art.What began as an international movement has been reconfigured and transformed by artists working within the unique socio-political, cultural, and environmental conditions of this country.Sophie Cape, Julia Davis & Lisa Jones in collaboration, Helen Eager, Louise Forthun, Dale Frank, Michael Goss, Gary Gregg, Sean Hogan, Michael Johnson, Kirtika Kain, Donald Laycock, Ian Milliss, Kyle Murrell, NOT, Louise Olsen, Ana Pollak, Jeannette Siebols, Aida Tomescu, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn and Chris WiseCurated by Rhonda Davis and Kon Gouriotis'About the collection at Macquarie University - 'Our collection adorns the entire campus with artwork on display in the library, the faculties, the hospital, the clinics, and the administration buildings, where staff, students and visitors collectively encounter art as part of the everyday life of Macquarie’s expansive campus.The paintings and sculptures add robust vitality, freshness and bursts of colour to the physical environment of the campus − its visual presence is certainly much felt, discussed and enjoyed.'

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