Art Gallery of NSW Online Exhibitions

The Art Gallery of NSW may be temporarily closed due to the Sydney lockdowns, but that doesn’t mean you need to go without culture.

The gallery has launched online versions of two important exhibitions. The first is the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2021 Virtual Visit, an immersive 360-degree online experience of the iconic art prizes. The second is a Youtube walkthrough of the remarkable Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings exhibition.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2021 exhibition barely needs any introduction. The Archibald Prize is Australia’s oldest and most-celebrated portrait award, and the Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figure sculpture. The Sulman Prize is given to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media.

For the virtual visit, guests take an online self-guided tour that shows the artworks in-situ within the gallery space. The tour includes clickable hotspots to access the labels, and the ability to navigate around the exhibition via a floor plan or highlights tab. The Archibald Prize includes the traditional People’s Choice Award, where punters can vote for their favourite work for a chance to score $2000, with the winning artist receiving $5000.

For Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings, the gallery is presenting a Youtube video walkthrough of this phenomenal exhibition. In the early 20th century, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint was creating paintings unlike anything the Western art world had seen before – imposing abstract works defined by their vivid colours and enigmatic symbols. Klint believed her paintings contained messages communicated to her through visions she received from spirits.

These 100 artworks are from a collection of paintings rediscovered by her family in the 1960s. A 2019 exhibition of the works at the Guggenheim Museum broke attendance records and took the New York art world by storm. This is the first major survey of Klint’s work to come to the Asia Pacific region.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2021 and Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings exhibitions are both free to view online.