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Ocula Member Galleries are selected by a committee of respected gallerists with the purpose of presenting only the best of contemporary art on Ocula.
Read MoreWhether you want to discover contemporary art created by established artists or by emerging talents, below you will find some of the best galleries across Sydney's vibrant art scene presenting a range of both.
Explore current and upcoming exhibitions across Ocula's Member Galleries in Sydney.
Read MoreA thriving destination for contemporary art, culture, tourism, festivals, and food, Sydney promises its visitors a well-rounded arts experience. From the architecturally designed Sydney Modern Project at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to the waterfront contemporary art destination, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, art enthusiasts can expect to see world-class exhibitions in the city.
Sydney's museums, institutions and non-profit art spaces offer a world-class arts and culture experience. Explore our selection of the best not for profit art spaces to visit in the New South Wales capital.
Read MoreSet by The Domain along Art Gallery Road is the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and its recent expansion, the Sydney Modern Project, offering a world-class stage for contemporary and modern art across two mammoth spaces.
Overlooking Sydney Harbour at Tallawoladah is the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Sydney), Australia's dedicated public contemporary art museum set in a multi-storey art deco building.
Sydney is also home to a breadth of mid-scale institutions that support emerging artists through exhibitions and opportunities. These include non-profits Artspace Sydney and Firstdraft, both in Woolloomooloo, and Cement Fondu in Paddington. Also in Paddington is UNSW Galleries, the University of New South Wales' dedicated gallery opened in 2013.
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is an independent not-for-profit located in Haymarket which has championed contemporary Asian-Australian art practices since 1996.
In Chippendale is White Rabbit Gallery, established in 2009 to showcase contemporary Chinese art.
Other highlights include Carriageworks, Australia's largest arts and culture centre located in the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern; Campbelltown Arts Centre, a multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre situated on the edge of southwest Sydney; and the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo.
Ocula Magazine is an online platform dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary art internationally. Explore our in-depth conversations, insights, features, news stories, and photologs covering the Sydney arts scene here.
Read MoreSince it was launched in 2010, Ocula Magazine has interviewed some of Australia's most significant artists, including Dean Cross, Lindy Lee, Angela Tiatia, Richard Bell, and Karla Dickens. It has also covered significant Sydney exhibitions, including shows by Simryn Gill and Tony Albert, and the Biennale of Sydney.
In any given week, you can see the works of some of the world's most exciting artists in Sydney. Here you will find a selection of artists whose works are currently on show in the city.
Read MoreSign up to My Ocula to follow artists and galleries, save artworks to your favourites, and be informed when new exhibitions and features are published.
Sydney has propelled the careers of Australian and international artists, with its renowned galleries and museums providing a global stage for seminal exhibitions. Australian artists who have recently held major solo exhibitions in the city include Brett Whiteley, Daniel Boyd, Noŋgirrŋa Marawili, and Emily Floyd.
Throughout the year Sydney plays host to major art events and fairs, attracting thousands of collectors and enthusiasts from across the globe.
Read MoreThe Biennale of Sydney is arguably the pinnacle of Sydney's cultural calendar. Inaugurated in 1973, the Biennale is one of the world's longest running biennials and occupies multiple venues across the city including Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Sydney is host to a wide range of vibrant and diverse museums and galleries, alongside non-profit organisations and artist-run initiatives. The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) boasts one of the largest art collections in Australia and has been fundamental to Sydney's cultural landscape since its establishment in 1871. With the expansion of the Sydney Modern Project in 2022, the AGNSW doubles its exhibition and education spaces in a new building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects SANAA.
Read MoreClaiming space along Sydney's iconic harbour, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is dedicated to contemporary Australian and international artists. It has hosted exhibitions by contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Pipilotti Rist, Anish Kapoor, and Fiona Hall. Carriageworks, another key institution, is a multi-arts centre set within the historic Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern. This enormous and unique industrial site lends itself to large-scale immersive programmes and international commissions.
Artspace is one of Australia's foremost non-profit contemporary art space and supports the production and presentation of new work, hosting an ambitious national and international program of exhibitions, residencies, and public programmes that position art and ideas within a critical context. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Haymarket is dedicated to facilitating dialogue between Australia and Asia through exhibitions, research, and collaboration. Working with artists from across the Asia-Pacific region, it plays a critical role in advocating for an expanded view of global contemporary art.
Alongside public institutions are different models of private initiatives. White Rabbit Gallery, which opened in Chippendale in 2009, showcases extraordinary works by contemporary Chinese and Taiwanese artists from philanthropist Judith Nielson's collection.
The Biennale of Sydney is arguably the pinnacle of Sydney's cultural calendar. Inaugurated in 1973, the Biennale is one of the world's longest running biennials and occupies multiple venues across the city including Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While Melbourne is known for its laneways filled with street art and graffiti, Sydney has a growing reputation for its public art. The City of Sydney commissions a wide range of public art that encompasses fountains, monuments, sculptures, installations, street art and murals. Notable projects include Jenny Holzer's I STAY (Ngaya ngalawa) (2014), a 24-hour installation of text in English and First Nations languages; Chris Fox's impressive Interloop (2017) that reuses the old wooden escalators into a mind-bending installation at Wynyard Station; and Tracey Emin's The Distance of your Heart (2018), made up of 67 tiny bronze birds perched on building window sills.
Sydney is also home to a variety of experimental and artist-run-initiatives that support emerging practitioners. Firstdraft, an artist-led organisation and the oldest of its kind in Sydney, has been the foundation of hundreds of artistic careers. In Marrickville is Frontyard, a community-run space that occupies the former Australia Council Research Library. Cement Fondu, one of Sydney's newest contemporary spaces in Paddington, runs a programme that brings together rising local artists with renowned international artists to build new relationships.
Further afield beyond the city centre, many important galleries can visited across Greater Sydney and New South Wales including Campbelltown Art Centre, Blacktown Arts Centre, Bundanon, and Casula Powerhouse.
