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The Art World in Focus
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Janet Dawson

JANET DAWSON

Far Away, So Close Art Gallery of New South Wales 19 July 2025–18 January 2026 Sydney
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The first state art museum retrospective of one of Australia’s great artistic visionaries. Janet Dawson (born 1935) is one of Australia’s pre-eminent artists. Throughout a distinguished career spanning over six decades of practice, she remains an artist who has refused to be bound by rules.

Dawson’s practice is impossible to neatly categorise. She emerged as a strikingly distinct abstract painter in 1960s Melbourne and Sydney. In 1973, she won the Archibald Prize for portraiture, only the third woman in history to receive this award. By the 1990s, over decades living on an isolated property at Binalong, NSW, she developed an arresting form of realism that she used to paint the everyday objects and environments around her.

A pioneer of both abstraction and realism in Australian art, Dawson sees no contradiction in working between diverse stylistic and aesthetic realms. Consistent to her art is a sense of curiosity: she is constantly interested in material existence and the state of the natural world.

This comprehensive retrospective, and its accompanying publication, give overdue attention to an influential artist, and show the full diversity of Dawson’s practice.

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About the Gallery
The Art Gallery of NSW is one of the most beautiful art museums in the world, set over 5 levels within stunning parklands overlooking Sydney harbour. The museum houses extensive collections of Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art alongside world-class collections of European masters, Asian art and international contemporary art. In addition to the permanent collection, the AGNSW has a vibrant temporary exhibition program, including major international touring shows and flagship annual exhibitions such as the Archibald Prize and ART EXPRESS.

The AGNSW also manages the Brett Whitley Studio, the artist's former workplace and home in the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills. The studio offers an intimate insight in to the art and life of one of Australia's most celebrated artists.
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Address
Art Gallery Road
The Domain, NSW
Sydney
Australia
Opening Hours
Monday – Sunday
10am – 5pm
Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day
(1)
Sydney Art Gallery Road, The Domain, NSW
Art Gallery of New South Wales contemporary art institution in Sydney Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain, NSW, Sydney, Australia
+61 2 9225 1744
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Opening hours
Monday – Sunday
10am – 5pm
Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day
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The art world in focus