Art Wank

Send us Fan Mail This week Art Wank met Rhonda Davis, Curator of Macquarie University Gallery , and Kon Gouriotis, curator and editor of Artist Profile magazine . They recently curated an exhibition at Macquarie Gallery titled Australian Abstraction. We spoke with them about their thinking behind the exhibition, how they chose the artists involved, and the Macqaurie university Art Collection.  &ap...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we chat with the extraordinary Aida Tomescu , one of Australia’s most respected abstract painters. Born in Romania and based in Sydney, Aida has spent her career exploring the emotional and structural possibilities of paint, building a language that’s as physical as it is poetic. We talk about her process: the scraping, layering, and reworking that give her painti...

Send us Fan Mail Aaron Aryadharma Matheson is an artist living and working at Lennox St Studios, Sydney. He’s been a finalist in the Mosman, Waverley and Waterhouse prizes, and picked up the Richard Ford Travel Award along the way. He studied drawing at the Prince’s Drawing School in London, and later completed a Master of Fine Art at the National Art School in Sydney. This podcast is about art, B...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank, we focus on Australian artists Michelle Cawthorn and Peter Sharp and their recent creative residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut, USA. Together, they reflect on how this experience produced a new body of work and the opportunity to explore the foundations archives.  During her residency at the Albers Foundation, Cawthorn imme...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore the work and world of Australian artist John R Walker , a painter who invites us to experience the land as a living and layered presence rather than just a view. Born in Sydney in 1957 and now based in Braidwood, New South Wales, Walker’s journey has taken him from city life to a deep engagement with rural environments. His art connects ecology, geology,...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Michael Cusack, an accomplished abstract painter, educator, and co-founder of the Byron School of Art in Mullumbimby. Michael’s career has spanned over three decades, with his paintings exhibited widely across Australia and internationally. His work is represented in major public and private collections, and he is known for his richly layered abstract...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Art Wank Podcast we chat with Sydney-based artist Gina Bruce , known for her haunting, dreamlike paintings that play between strength and subtlety. Gina works across a variety of media, often returning to the same places to capture their changing moods and connections to identity. Her works are bold in mark-making yet beautifully delicate in atmosphere, crea...

Send us Fan Mail We spoke with artists Gary Gregg and Gary Deirmendijan, together with curator and director Miguel Olmo, about Repair/Replace, the current exhibition at Gallery Lane Cove. Our conversation touched on the curatorial process, the role of found objects in art, and the unexpected significance they can hold. Gary Gregg shared insights into his collages made from studio detritus, and the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Art Wank Podcast, we sit down with Michael Kempson , one of Australia’s leading master printers. With a career spanning over three decades, Michael has made a profound impact on the field of printmaking through his own practice as well as his work as a mentor, collaborator and educator. Michael is best known as the founder and director of Cicada Press , an e...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Art Wank Podcast, we talk with acclaimed Australian artist Ana Pollak , whose practice is shaped by the natural beauty and quiet rhythms of Dangar Island, her home on the Hawkesbury River. Ana’s work evokes a strong sense of place, combining close observation with an intimate emotional connection to her surroundings. Her drawings and paintings capture shifti...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Art Wank Podcast, we celebrate the creative brilliance of the 2025 Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize winners. We speak with Renjie Teoh, this year’s Design Prize recipient, whose collaboration with artist Gary Carsley offers a fresh and thought‑provoking take on contemporary design. Although Gary was unable to join us for the recording, his...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank, we sit down with one of Australia’s most respected – and at times divisive – voices in the art world, John McDonald. Known for his decades-long career as an art critic and columnist, John brings sharp insight, dry humour, and a deep knowledge of art history to the conversation. We discuss the role and relevance of art prizes in today’s cultural landsca...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Art Wank podcast, we speak with Australian artist James Drinkwater, known for his vibrant paintings, sculpture, poetry, and music. Drinkwater, originally from Newcastle, NSW, has built a reputation for his layered, gestural works and multidisciplinary practice. He won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2014, which allowed him to work in Paris,...

Send us Fan Mail Ann Cape is a celebrated Australian artist whose career spans over four decades, marked by her evocative portraiture, sensitive explorations of memory, and enduring commitment to arts education. Based in Sydney, Cape has established herself as a leading figure in figurative painting, known for her ability to capture not only the physical likeness of her subjects but also a deep ps...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re joined by two key figures from Studio A —CEO Gab Mordy and artist Thom Roberts—for a lively chat about carving out space for neurodiverse artists in the contemporary art world. Thom shares insights into his recent solo exhibition in Canberra at the National Portrait Gallery, ' The Immersive World of Thom Roberts' , reflecting on the ideas behind th...

Send us Fan Mail Katherine Edney is a Sydney-based artist whose evocative oil paintings delve into themes of identity, memory, and emotional transformation. Born in 1983, she holds a Master of Fine Arts by Research in Painting from UNSW’s College of Fine Arts (2008), as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts with First Class Honours (2004). Edney’s work has received wide recognition in major Australian a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank , we dive into the dynamic and prolific career of Australian artist Ann Thomson , whose expressive, abstract works have made her a vital force in Australian contemporary art for over five decades. Born in 1933 in Brisbane and trained at the National Art School in Sydney, Thomson’s practice has always defied easy categorisation. Her paintings and sculptu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we delve into the practice of Sydney-based artist Kyle Murrell , whose abstract works explore the tension between structure and meaning. A 2013 Honours graduate of the National Art School, Murrell has garnered accolades including the John Olsen Prize for Figure Drawing and the Elioth Gruner Prize for Landscape Painting . His process is rooted in drawing, serving a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank , we speak with Teresa Biet, founder (alongside her husband Andre) and director of Art Incubator – a philanthropic initiative that champions emerging Australian artists through financial support, mentorship, and increased visibility. Teresa shares her deep passion for the arts and her belief in their power to inspire change and foster community. We disc...

Send us Fan Mail Lottie Consalvo is a deeply intuitive and reflective artist whose recent body of work has been profoundly shaped by time spent meditating and working in the Australian bush. Her latest exhibition, Long Dawn , recently shown at her Sydney gallery Nanda Hobbs , reveals the contemplative power of being immersed in nature — where solitude, stillness, and the landscape become integral...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank, we delve into the world of Australian landscape painter David Collins , whose latest solo exhibition, Brevity , is currently on view at Defiance Gallery in Sydney from May 3 to 24, 2025 . Collins has been a significant figure in the Australian art scene since the early 1990s . Residing on Dangar Island in the Hawkesbury River since 1987, his daily inte...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank , we sit down with Sydney-based artist Matt Bromhead to dive into his multidisciplinary practice, which spans drawing, sculpture, and painting. Known for his expressive use of materials and intuitive mark-making, Matt shares insights into his creative process, his influences, and how his work explores form, space, and texture. We chat about:  🎨 His jou...

Send us Fan Mail Art Wank Podcast – Oliver Abbott Welcome back to Art Wank! In this episode, we chat with Sydney-based artist Oliver Abbott , whose latest exhibition, Mine , is currently showing at Dominik Mersch Gallery . Oliver’s practice explores memory and its distortions, using digital world-building tools to reconstruct remembered spaces. His background in filmmaking, animation, and architec...

Send us Fan Mail Janis Clarke's exhibition at Olsen Gallery , The Other Sun , opens March 5th - 29th March 2025.  Janis Clarke , born in 1983 in Sydney, Australia, is a distinguished contemporary artist renowned for his evocative oil paintings that delve into the nuances of perception and memory. His academic journey in the arts commenced with an Advanced Diploma of Performance Art from JMC A...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Art Wank , we chat with George Hartley, co-founder of Bluethumb , Australia's largest online art marketplace. George shares insights into the business side of art, the evolution of Bluethumb, and how artists can leverage online platforms to build their careers. From navigating the digital art world to understanding collector trends, this episode is packed w...