2025 Exhibition Program

Albany Town Hall GallerIES

THE ANTIPODEAN MANIFESTO: WORKS FROM THE STATE ART COLLECTION

25 July - 6 September 2025 | Albany Town Hall 

The Antipodean Manifesto: Works from The State Art Collection exhibition features a selection of paintings, drawings, prints and ceramics by the seven artists who formed the Antipodean group in Melbourne in 1959.

Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval, and Clifton Pugh held a single exhibition at the Victorian Artists Society in August 1959. The Antipodean Manifesto was written by art historian and fellow group member Bernard Smith and, signed by Smith and the exhibiting artists, it was included in the exhibition’s catalogue.

The Antipodean Manifesto stated that the artists were opposed to non-figurative art and that recognisable images were the basis of painting. The threat of abstraction on Australian figurative art was perceived by the unchallenged reception that abstract art was receiving with audiences and critics locally and abroad. The Antipodeans did not see themselves as representative of a national cultural identity. Rather, they were deeply rooted in the post-war modernist artistic and literary associations of the Heide circle in Melbourne. They asserted the importance of subject matter and a theme viewing abstract art, predominately gaining popularity in Sydney, as marginalising their artistic contribution, and ultimately leading “to the death of art”.

The exhibition, drawn from The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia explores the formation and aspirations of the group, situating their work within the social and political context of late 1950s Australia.

A touring exhibition from The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA).

Artwork (details): John Brack. British Modern. 1969. Oil on canvas, 96.5 × 129.5 cm. The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 1984. Photo: Bo Wong

Content Warning: This exhibition contains some adult themes and images of nudity. Viewers discretion is advised. 

Open 25 July - 6 September  2025

Albany Town Hall - 217 York St Albany

Tuesday - Saturday 10-5pm