Sydney International Art Series

The Sydney International Art Series showcases ground-breaking past and present artworks from all over the world each summer.

The event, an initiative of the New South Wales Government, takes place over several months at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Across the gardens, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will host acclaimed New York-based artist Julie Mehretu as part of the Sydney International Art Series.

Discover them all with an Art Pass.

The NSW Government proudly supports the Sydney International Art Series through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. Magritte is also proudly supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Blockbusters Funding initiative.

Magritte

René Magritte’s paintings of clouds, hats, pipes and apples are among the most recognisable images of surrealism. Renowned for his deadpan, realist style, the Belgian artist depicted ordinary objects and everyday settings, revealing them to be more mysterious and enchanting than we could ever have imagined.

Magritte is an in-depth retrospective featuring over 100 works, most of which have never been seen in Australia. It journeys from the artist’s first avant-garde explorations and commercial works in the 1920s to his groundbreaking contributions to surrealism, his surprising provocations of the 1940s, and the renowned paintings of his final years before his death in 1967.

Encounter iconic paintings that highlight Magritte’s profound influence on contemporary visual culture and discover rarely-seen works that reveal his subversive sense of humour and the fierce independence of his artistic vision.

The associated publication features reproductions of the works in the exhibition alongside essays that consider Magritte’s capacity for innovation and reinvention, his practice’s social and artistic context, and his remarkable use of the absurd.

Along with Cao Fei, also at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Julie Mehretu, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Magritte is part of the Sydney International Art Series, bringing the world’s most outstanding exhibitions to Australia exclusively to Sydney.

Cao Fei – My City is Yours

In the largest exhibition of her work ever seen in Australia, Cao Fei (pronounced tsow fay) 曹 斐 brings the energy of the contemporary metropolis into the Art Gallery of New South Wales with a retrospective that includes two new commissions.

Cao was recently voted one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in Guangzhou in 1978 and based in Beijing, she has documented China’s rapid urbanisation and digital revolutions for over two decades. Her acclaimed films, photography and large-scale installations offer thrilling encounters with the disorienting, quick-fire transformations of the new millennium.

My City is Yours 曹斐: 欢迎登陆 is an invitation into a world of neon, street dance and pop music, a city both familiar and warped, real and virtual. Enter the exhibition via a replica 1960s Beijing cinema foyer and exit through a homage to a popular Sydney yum cha restaurant.

Designed by the artist and Beau Architects of Hong Kong, the exhibition takes the form of a cityscape. It’s a space of play and self-reinvention where cosplayers and hip-hop dancers take over sidewalks in Fukuoka and New York. It’s a city of screens and pixels, mediated by gaming technologies, VR and the metaverse. It’s a city under construction, where neighbourhoods are razed overnight, and workers compete for jobs with robots.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication offering new scholarship on Cao’s work and an array of artwork stills, images of props and paraphernalia, and archival material spanning the artist’s influences.

Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory

Exclusive to Sydney, a major career survey of New York-based artist Julie Mehretu, widely regarded as one of the most significant painters of her generation.

American artist Julie Mehretu (b. 1970, Addis Ababa) is renowned for her powerful and often monumental works. Drawing on histories of art and architecture, they also speak to urgent contemporary issues such as revolution, migration, global capitalism and climate change.

This exhibition will be the first dedicated to Mehretu to be shown in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Focusing on new and recent works, they include monumental and medium format paintings, as well as works on paper dating from the mid-1990s to the present.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a major publication with contributions from various authors, including Julie Mehretu and the exhibition curators Suzanne Cotter, MCA Director, and Jane Devery, Senior Curator, Exhibitions.

Getting To the Art Gallery of New South Wales

On the eastern side of Sydney’s CBD, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Domain, just down the road from St Mary’s Cathedral. About 5 minutes walk from Macquarie Street, across the Domain, or from Hyde Park.

Bus 441: Departs from the York Street side of Queen Victoria Building (Stand D) and drops off near the Art Gallery. Returns to the Queen Victoria Building, picking up outside the Art Gallery.

Train: St James and Martin Place stations are both about 10 minutes walk.

Courtesy bus: On nights when the Art Gallery is open, a courtesy bus departs from the bus stop on Art Gallery Road in front of the Art Gallery every 20 minutes from 7pm until closing. Stops include various locations in the city near public transport hubs at Town Hall (Castlereagh St and Park St), Martin Place (Macquarie St) and Wynyard (Castlereagh St and Hunter St).

Taxis and rideshare: Drop-off and pick-up zone on Art Gallery Road near the front of the Art Gallery.

Meter parking: On Mrs Macquaries Road and other streets around the Art Gallery.

Parking stations: There are several car parks near the Art Gallery. The closest are the Domain Car Park and The Wharf, Woolloomooloo Car Park, both of which can be booked in advance online. Note changes to access from the Domain Car Park: The lift closest to the Art Gallery is not operational as it is being replaced by Wilson Parking, with the service scheduled to resume at the end of 2024. There are stairs, and the car park’s south lift remains operational.

Bicycles: Bike parking is available along Art Gallery Road, outside our north building, Naala Badu, and our south building, Naala Nura.

Buses: Drop-off and pick-up zone on Art Gallery Road near the front of the Art Gallery but no dedicated parking spaces.

Getting To the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

The Museum is a six-minute walk from Circular Quay, where public buses, trains, ferries and light rail services run regularly.

Nearby parking is available at the 155 George St Car Park and the Clocktower Car Park.

Bike parking is available along the foreshore of Circular Quay at the southern end of the Museum.