Art exhibitions in May and June

John Lacey, From Camp Karijini, Gallows Gallery

With new exhibitions opening at PICA, Fremantle Arts Centre and Lawrence Wilson Gallery there is plenty of fresh and exciting art on display in Perth - from contemporary paintings, large-scale pottery and installations to video and soundscapes. At the independent galleries, Gallows Gallery is showing new landscape paintings by John Lacey, Linton & Kay Subiaco has a selection of iconic drawings by Christopher Orchard, as well as his new book, and Turner Galleries are getting ready for the Mandorla Art Awards opening in early June.

If you plan a day out of Perth, there are is plenty to choose from as well. In Caversham, Jean Sher is showing her abstract landscape paintings at Linton & Kay Mandoon Estate, and you still have a week to see Mandy Renard's beautiful prints at Gallery 152 in York.

Use the shortlist below to decide what to see or check our Visual Arts page for a comprehensive guide to the 50+ exhibitions showing in May and June.

Highlights

John Lacey  May 24 - June 10, Gallows Gallery New paintings of the northwest presents a chance to interpret and discover the abstraction of place. Lacey enjoys capturing what’s in front of him, which is evident in several impressionistic pieces, however it’s the expression and simplification, the feeling and emotion that one gathers that he finds most rewarding as an artist. (Featured image above: John Lacey, From Camp Karijini) (Image: John Lacey, Dales Reflection)

Christopher Orchard - Fictions: Drawings as inventions Now - June 3, Linton & Kay Subiaco An exhibition of the Little Bald Man, conjured from memory and imagination. According to Orchard, the Bald Man, described as his avatar, "represents the entire history of what it means to be human"; offering the viewer a multi-faceted journey rather than any predictable outcome.(Images: Christopher Orchard, Small Levitation 4 and Small Levitation 9)

Hatched: National Graduate Show 2018  Now - Jul 15, PICA 30 new graduates exhibit their work as part of the 27th Hatched: National Graduate Show. Curated by Eugenio Viola, the exhibition examines the pulse of the nation’s emerging arts practices while acting as an important platform for artistic careers.(Image: Elham Eshraghian, Bohrân)

Fremantle Arts Centre

On Saturday 26 May, FAC launches its next round of 4 new exhibitions spanning video installations, soundscapes, contemporary paintings and traditional prints.

Gifted – City of Fremantle Art Collection May 26 - July 15, Fremantle Arts Centre An exhibition which recognises a generous donation of 17 artworks by longstanding Fremantle resident and art collector Mary Harrison Hill in recognition of her late husband Chris. The gift of prints and paintings by senior WA and Fremantle-based artists makes a lasting contribution to the City of Fremantle Art Collection.(Image: Paul Hinchcliffe, The Infinite Possibilities of a Life Not Lived)

Caspar Fairhall - Nine times the space that measures day and night May 26 - July 15, Fremantle Arts Centre The suite of large paintings on display is conceived as a meditation on the nature of landscape and our place in geological time. Caspar Fairhall’s paintings draw upon the often complex spatial structures of late Renaissance and Baroque art and are characterised by crisp, vibrant colour and rich surfaces. (Image: Caspar Fairhall, Iceberg)

Semiconductor May 26 - July 15, Fremantle Arts Centre Two video works by Semiconductor are on display - both extending our experience of the natural world, delving into and creating visual interpretations of unseen worlds by transforming and stitching together images of scientific data. Brilliant Noise offers a glimpse of solar astronomy and Black Rain utilises satellite data to observe the space between the sun and the earth. (Image: Semiconductor, Brilliant Noise installation view)

Rachael Dease - Like Embracing Ice May 26 - July 15, Fremantle Arts Centre Like Embracing Ice is a new audio work by accomplished WA sound artist and composer Rachael Dease. Following a month in the Arctic Circle, she has scored a work with audio captured from the depths of the Arctic Sea, using hydrophones floating under drifting icebergs and microphones lowered into glacial cracks. (Image: Rachael Dease, Like Embracing Ice)

More Perth Exhibitions

Stewart Scambler - Fragment Now - August 18, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery This exhibition presents a new body of work by renowned WA potter Stewart Scambler - a striking assembly of large-scale sculptural forms and murals, inspired by his journey through the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of WA. Both the material and aesthetic qualities of the local landscape remain central to Scambler’s practice as a potter. (Image: Stewart Scambler, Fragment II)

Unravelling Mystery May 28 - June 1, Foyer of 2 Mill Street, Perth Artitja Fine Art presents an exhibition of Aboriginal art as part of National Reconciliation Week. With the aim of connecting cultures through art, Unravelling Mystery will feature paintings from desert communities as far away as Balgo in the East Kimberley, Papulankutja (Blackstone) located between the Western and Great Victoria deserts and the Pitjantjatjara communities further to the east. (Image: Maime Butler)

TASF 2018 Art Awards Now - May 27, Pop-up Gallery, Fremantle The Artisan Store Fremantle is hosting its first annual Art Awards to promote emerging and established West Australian artists. This exciting new art event, encompasses all things Fremantle as an arts community represents, showcases artists across 2D, 3D, Textiles, Jewellery and Photography with all works available for purchase.

Mandorla Art Award 2018 June 2 - 30, Turner Galleries It’s time for the 2018 Mandorla Art Award! Leading contemporary artists from all over Australia responded to the theme “And then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” Rev 21: 1-2. The artworks of all finalists will be on display and the winning piece announced. (Image: Peter Barker, Guided (detail), 2016 Finalist)

Tim Meakins - Big Kicks May 6 – 27, Smart Casual In keeping with the artist’s playful style, Big Kicks shows large scale acrylic works and mix media sculptures. Featuring some familiar shapes and anthropomorphic details, Meakins has worked with new forms and materials influenced by notions of physicality and strength. (Image: Tim Meakins)

Brigid Noone - Authentic Determination Now – Aug 18, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery Brigid Noone has expanded her painting practice into an experimental hybrid of artistic and curatorial processes, often incorporating the work of other artists into her wall paintings and installations. Authentic Determination sees Noone apply her unique methodology to the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art, considering the artist as ‘whole being’. (Image: Brigid Noone, Lucky Bitches)

A Day Out

Jean Sher - A Brush with the Landscape Now - June 3, Linton & Kay Mandoon Estate, Caversham To Jean Sher, trees link earth and sky and she has always been struck by the shape of our elegant trees found in the paddocks of our South West wine region and the bold sculptural shapes of Rottnest Island trees with their deep summer shadows. She paints the changing mood of day – the light and colours of the sky, a moon, a star, or a cloud hovering over this unique landscape of ours. (Image: Jean Sher, Late Evening Hills -Tuscany)

Listening for Songs Now - May 27, Gallery 152, York You still have a week to see this sumptuous exhibition by Mandy Renard, one of Australia’s foremost printmakers. Mandy's work is on showw along with ceramics by Erinswindow and Jen Winterbottom (Shelf Life Ceramics), printmaker Ros Meeker and sculptures by Janelle Mendham. (Image: Mandy Renard, Friendship)

Removing the Traces Now - Jun 3, Holmes a Court at Vasse Felix, Cowaramup Last 2 weeks to see the current selection of works from the Holmes à Court private collection. The significant abstract works represent the essence of land, forest and water across the south-west landscapes. (Image: Guy Grey-Smith, Karri Trees)

Artonomy - 14 Degrees of Separation Now – 31, Ellenbrook Arts HQ, Ellenbrook For this Artonomy group exhibition, each artist has interpreted an artwork that was made by another in the group for the purpose of reading, examining, responding, and re-contextualizing. There are four sets of work on display, three sets were made consecutively in response to each other, and the fourth set is a mix of works that were conceived independently during the process. (Image: Angela Leaney, Untitled)