The world premiere of Professor Terry Smith’s latest research is landing in Sydney. Over four Tuesdays in August, the Slade Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Cambridge will deliver a free lecture series at the Art Gallery of NSW, drawing on 50 years of work and previewing a forthcoming book.
For Sydneysiders who follow contemporary art theory, the series offers unprecedented access to Smith’s evolving scholarship before it appears in print. The lectures span Piero della Francesca’s Renaissance allegories, Degas and Kahlo’s modernist bodies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander conceptions of ‘Everywhen’, and the dystopian visions of today’s global artists. Each session runs from 11am to 12.30pm in the Centenary Auditorium of the Naala Nura building, with bookings required online through the gallery’s tickets site.
Smith will examine how artists use visual perception, emotional intelligence, and conceptualisation to both manifest and transform major aspects of human world picturing. The four lectures take distinct themes with specific artist examples. On 4 August, ‘Visual allegories of seeing as knowing’ contrasts Piero della Francesca’s St Augustine with Plato’s cave. The following week, ‘Bodies as mediums of modernity’ traces representations from Degas and de Kooning to Valadon and Kahlo. The 18 August session, ‘Modalities of Everywhen’, focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists including Yirawala, Emily Kam Kngwarreye, and Archie Moore’s celebrated work kith and kin. The series closes on 25 August with ‘Utopics and dystopia within the iconomy’, a look at world picturing by contemporary artists.
The lectures are presented in partnership with the University of Sydney’s Power Institute and mark something of a homecoming for Smith, who is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the university. A founding board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, he has also served on the boards of the Andy Warhol Museum and Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. His recent books include Curating the complex and the open strike (2021) and Iconomy (2022).
If you want to engage with leading art theory, this series is a rare chance to hear ideas that will shape international discourse for years to come. Book early because seating in the Centenary Auditorium is limited and the sessions are free, a point easily mistaken. The series runs only on the four specific Tuesdays in August, not across a longer season.
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Art Gallery of New South Wales
Major public art museum located in The Domain, Sydney, housing significant collections of Australian, Indigenous, Asian and international art. It hosts public programs including lectures and exhibitions.
Power Institute
University of Sydney research institute dedicated to the study of art, visual culture and curatorial practice. It partners on public programs and scholarly events with institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW.
Getting there by public transport is recommended, as on-site parking is limited. Martin Place and St James stations are a short walk away, and multiple bus routes stop along Art Gallery Road. Consider combining a session with a stroll through the Royal Botanic Garden or a visit to the gallery’s other August exhibitions. The gallery opens daily at 10am, so you can grab a coffee and settle in before Smith takes the stage.
The series marks an unusually local moment for a scholar who now divides his time between Cambridge, Pittsburgh, and Sydney. That his ideas are premiering here, for free, is not something art lovers should let pass by.