VAULT Magazine (2026)

07/09/2026

Outer Space's 2026 Art Auction & Fundraiser is Live until 12 September 2026!

Outer Space celebrates 10 years with its annual art auction and fundraiser, featuring work by more than 40 contemporary artists. The online auction opens Monday 7 September and closes during the in person celebration on Saturday 12 September, 6pm to 9pm, with final bids, raffle prizes, performances and music.

Auction Artists

Amy-Jean Mitchell
Anastasia Booth
Bella Deary
Blatt & Matonelli
Bridie Gillman
Bron Sargeson
Cassandra Louttit
Chantal Fraser
Charlie Donaldson
Cosima Scales
d harding
Dan McDonnell
Darren Blackman
Dylan Bolger
Ellen May Anderson
Emmalyn Hawthorne
Fernando do Campo
Lawn Bowls
Grant x Wilkes
Jessica Dorizac
Jessie Nash
Jon Campbelle
Jordan Azcune
Judy Watson
Keemon Williams
Kuweni Dias Mendis
Lincoln Austin
Max Athans
Megan Cope
Miri Badger
Monica Rohan
Nadeem Tiafau Eshraghi
Natalie Lavelle
Prita Tina Yeganeh
Richard Bell
Robert Andrew
Ross Manning
Sam Harrison
Seren Wagstaff
Sha Sarwari
Shannon O’Hara
Spencer Harvie
Tamika Grant-Iramu
Tom Summers
Tony Albert

Additional viewing: Friday 11 September, 12pm to 6pm, and Saturday 12 September, 12pm to 5pm.

All proceeds support participating artists and Outer Space’s ongoing programming.

Follow for more info.

Image credit:
Photo Credit: Outer Space Auction 2026, installation views, featuring works by Blatt and Matonelli, Bridie Gillman, Cosima Scales, Sha Sarwari, Ellen May Anderson, Natalie Lavelle, Cassandra Louttit, Shannon O’Hara and Max Athans. Photo: Sara Czubek.

06/09/2026

| HELEN BRITTON
OBJECTS ARE VESSELS FOR MEMORY
Written by Devon Campbell

I’ve always admired people who can forget how things entered their lives. For me, even the smallest possessions accumulate meaning. Some arrive already carrying stories, while others quietly acquire significance as life unfolds around them. A book given by a friend and loaned out again and again, or the discoloured, almost worthless Monet print I kept after my grandfather died, become more than objects. They carry traces of relationships, memory and emotion long after the moment they entered my life has receded.

This quiet accumulation of meaning sits at the heart of 'The Story So Far',
the latest exhibition by internationally acclaimed Australian artist Helen Britton. Presented as the 10th edition of the Australian Design Centre’s 'Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft' series, the exhibition reveals an artist for whom objects – whether found, inherited or meticulously crafted – become vessels
of personal and cultural memory. If the readymade traditionally enters, the museum as an act of disruption or recontextualisation, Britton’s works feel instead like acts of continuation, extending family histories, domestic rituals and the creative legacies of the influential women whose lives continue to shape her practice...

Get your copy of Issue 55 of Vault today and read the full story!

.jaime.campbell

Image credit:
1. HELEN BRITTON 'Hope' (detail), 2022, silver, Australian stone, antique cabinet
3. HELEN BRITTON 'Whose bones are these?', 2024, galalith, silver, wood, paint
4. HELEN BRITTON 'Shades of Distance', 2023, shells, puffball dyed silk, sea chest
5. HELEN BRITTON 'Junkyard 3', 2025, silver, paint, velvet, wood, copper, steel

05/09/2026

‘An Taigh / The House: Held’ is on at Aigantighe Art Gallery, Te Tihi o Maru/Timaru until 11 October 2026.

Marking 50 years of the Friends of the Aigantighe, the exhibition celebrates the people, stories and acts of generosity that have helped shape the gallery and South Canterbury’s public art collection.

Drawing on the gallery’s Scottish heritage, permanent collection and local artistic communities, ‘An Taigh / The House: Held’ considers the Aigantighe not simply as a place for art, but as a home built through generations of connection, care and community.

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Image credit:
1. William Greene, 'The Unemployed', 1912, oil on canvas, AAG. 2002.9. Courtesy of Aigantighe Art Gallery
2. Eddie Poulston, 'Koru I', 1990, Copper and Oamaru Stone, AAG.1990.22. Courtesy of Aigantighe Art Gallery, and the Artist
3. William Douglas Macleod, 'Bridging the Broomielaw...' Glasgow, c. 1920, Drypoint in black on laid paper, AAG.1983.75. Courtesy of Aigantighe Art Gallery
4. Thomas Kennington, 'The Mother', 1895, Oil on Canvas, AAG.1956.37. Courtesy of Aigantighe Art Gallery
5. Heather Person-Hill, 'Verbascum Olympicum, Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden', 1998, watercolour on paper,AAG.2001.9. Courtesy of Aigantighe Art Gallery, and the Artist

03/09/2026

| Upfront September

MAN ON FIRE: VISIONS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Bundanon, Dharawal & Dhurga Country/Shoalhaven
Until 11 October 2026
Shaun Gladwell’s major new commission responds to Arthur Boyd’s 'Nebuchadnezzar' paintings, exploring masculinity, hubris & the human condition through a contemporary lens

NEW26
ACCA, Naarm/Melbourne
18 September – 22 November 2026
ACCA’s influential 'NEW' series returns with emerging Victorian artists and new commissions spanning a range of media, spotlighting the next generation of contemporary practice

OUTER SPACE 2026 ART AUCTION & FUNDRAISER
Online & Magandjin/Brisbane
7-12 September 2026
Celebrating 10 of Outer Space, this year’s fundraiser brings together works by more than 40 artists, with an online auction, an evening of final bids, performances, music & morebrisbane

IZABELA PLUTA: CAVITATION
The Lock-Up, Mulubinba/Newcastle
25 September 2026 – 31 January 2027
Izabela Pluta explores migration, sovereignty and belonging through photography, tapestry and sensory installation in this deeply personal exhibition

TAKING BACK OUR SPACE: PHOTOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES
Museum of Modern Art, New York
20 September 2026 – 2 May 2027
Bringing Marianne Wex’s pioneering work into dialogue with contemporary photographers, the exhibition examines gendered, racialised and q***r space, and the politics of visibility and belonging

UNLEASHED+
artisan at HOTA Gallery, Yugambeh/Gold Coast
Until 8 November 2026
Presented by artisan and HOTA, 'UNLEASHED+' showcases 12 emerging artists working across jewellery, ceramics, furniture, lighting & object design

Image
2. SHAUN GLADWELL, 'Test 1: Maximus swept out to sea (Wattamolla)' 2013 Courtesy the artist & PALAS, Sydney
4. Outer Space Auction 2026, installation view, featuring Cosima Scales. Photo: Sara Czubek
5. IZABELA PLUTA Aftercasts (detail), 2026. Courtesy the artist and Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert
6. PAULINA OLOWSKA,'Body Movement Alphabet Studies (detail)', 2007. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist © Paulina Olowska

02/09/2026

Pedro Wonaeamirri’s ‘Awirankini jilamara kapi purinjirringuwi: new designs on wood’ is on at STATION, Gadigal/Sydney until 3 October 2026.

Rooted in Tiwi living culture, Pedro Wonaeamirri brings generations of knowledge into a new body of ochre paintings on plywood, Stringybark and tunga, carrying the distinctive linear geometry of Jilamara designs from ceremony into contemporary forms. Working with natural ochres collected on Country and a traditional kayimwagakimi comb, Wonaeamirri’s works connect painting with the ceremonial practices of body design, dance and mourning.

Tunga, traditionally made for Pukumani ceremonies and Tiwi Yoi, speak to cycles of life, death and rebirth, while the figure of Japarra, the moon man, brings further connections to Tiwi understandings of life, death, water and the sea. Together, the works offer a powerful continuation of cultural knowledge, while extending its visual language into new territory.

Follow and for more info.

Image credit:
1. Pedro Wonaeamirri ‘Awirankini jilamara kapi purinjirringuwi: new designs on wood’ 2026, installation view, STATION, Gadigal/Sydney. Photo: Document Photography

Courtesy of STATION

01/09/2026

ON SHOW THIS WEEK!

Discover the latest exhibitions opening across galleries this week, featuring new works, fresh perspectives and exciting projects from artists across Australia and beyond.

1.
David Hockney (artist), Tyler Graphics (printer and publisher), 'An image of Celia', 1984-86, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased with the assistance of the Orde Poynton Fund 2002, © Estate of David Hockney / Tyler Graphics Ltd

2.
Lisa Reihana, 'Anzac', 2025, Installation view Sydney Contemporary, 2025. Courtesy of Sydney Contemporary

3.
Outer Space Auction 2026, installation views, featuring works by Sha Sarwari & Ellen May Anderson. Photo: Sara Czubek.

4.
'Craig & Karl: Double Vision', installation view, Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane, 2025. Photo: Alex Chomicz

5.
Archibald Prize 2026 finalist, Trésor Murace, 'Fiona Lowry as The Airbrush Queen' © the artist

31/08/2026

Lynda Draper’s ‘GR'AFT’ is on at Canberra Glassworks, Ngunawal/Canberra until 25 October 2026

Bridging glass, ceramics and bronze, Lynda Draper’s latest works take their cue from the ancient practice of grafting, where separate plants are joined to create new growth. The idea becomes both process and metaphor as Draper collaborates with specialist makers, allowing different materials, techniques and histories to merge into sculptural forms that feel at once delicate and enduring.

Developed following Draper’s 2024 residency at Canberra Glassworks, the works push her long standing ceramic practice into new territory. Organic, tactile and often dreamlike, they move between the familiar and the strange, exploring memory, transformation and the porous space between object and spirit.

Follow , and@canberraglassworks for more info.

Image credit:
1. Lynda Draper, 'Bubbles', 2026, glazed ceramic, kiln cast crystal, hand blown glass
2. Lynda Draper, 'GRA'FT', Installation View, 2026
3. Lynda Draper, 'Bloom', 2026, bronze, hand blown glass
4. Lynda Draper, 'GRA'FT', Installation View, 2026
5. Lynda Draper, 'Apparition II', 2025, glazed ceramic, hand blown glass

Photo by Brenton McGeachie

30/08/2026

| GAYPALANI WAṈAMBI
Written by Dr. Louise Martin-Chew

Gaypalani Waṉambi’s 2026 Wynne Prize winner is titled The Waṉambi Tree. Created in etched and spray-painted steel, its previous iteration as road signs is discernible only in the straight lines of its panelled construction, the metallic surface and the residual yellow remaining from the edges of the signage. What dominates are detailed etched markings that ripple across the surfaces, and small circular shapes that hover together, swarming over a stippled background. Within these panels is one focusing on the Waṉambi tree, its multiple silhouettes evoking a central role in the cultural narrative depicted. Gaypalani said, “We are descended from the Honey spirit Wuyal. He cut the tree at Gurka’wuy and the honey flowed to the sea.” Yet in the context of the Yolŋu Found movement, and the departure this represented from previously established art-making protocols (with road signs used as source material), like Duchamp’s urinal, its choice of medium signals a significant innovation: a shift in focus that marks a departure from long-held traditions.

For Yolŋu people, artmaking dictated that painting the land be predicated on using the land. Materials were restricted to eucalypt and bark from trees felled
on Country, ochres gathered, ground and mixed, and cultural narratives that belonged to the artists of this place....

Get your copy of Issue 55 of Vault today and read the full story!

Image credit:
1. GAYPALANI WAṈAMBI, 'The River of Honey' (front), 2025
2. GAYPALANI WAṈAMBI, 'The River of Honey' (back), 2025

Courtesy Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin

4. GAYPALANI WAṈAMBI, 'Burwu, blossom', installation view, Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Larrakia and Arrernte Country, 2025
6. Portrait of Gaypalani Waṉambi. Photo: Charlie Bliss

Photo: Charlie Bliss. Courtesy the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Larrakia and Arrernte Country

29/08/2026

‘Out of Hand’ is on at Otomys, Naarm/Melbourne until 11 September 2026.

Joel Sorensen and Dee Donaldson work across scorched timber, cement, paint and pastel, sharing an intuitive, tactile approach to making that allows form to emerge through touch, repetition and material memory. Donaldson’s clustered figures appear caught in states of tension and movement, while Sorensen’s carved and burnt forms offer a quieter, more elemental presence.

Together, their works consider what happens when making becomes a process of discovery, instinct and working things out as you go.

Follow , & for more info.

Image credit:
Installation view, 'Out of Hand', Otomys, Naarm/Melbourne, 2026.
Photographed by Andrew Curtis

28/08/2026

Sydney Contemporary’s 10th edition is on at Carriageworks, Gadigal Country/Sydney from 3 to 6 September 2026.

Returning for its landmark 10th edition Sydney Contemporary presents its largest ever program, bringing together more than 100 galleries and over 500 artists from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom. Alongside the Fair’s expansive gallery program, visitors can expect an ambitious lineup of large scale installations, performance, sculpture, textiles, painting, photography and kinetic works, with projects extending beyond Carriageworks into Sydney’s public spaces.

Curated to encourage audiences to experience contemporary art beyond the traditional gallery setting, the program explores ideas of place, memory, ecology and identity, transforming the industrial architecture of Carriageworks and bringing major works into unexpected locations across the city. The 10th edition will also feature a specially curated Collectors Lounge exhibition, bringing together works acquired across Sydney Contemporary’s first decade and offering a glimpse into the personal stories and relationships that develop between collectors and the art they live with.

Whether you are looking to discover emerging artists, revisit established practices, explore new galleries or simply immerse yourself in one of Australia’s biggest contemporary art events, Sydney Contemporary’s 10th edition promises plenty to see across the four day program.

Follow for more info.

Image credit:

Courtesy of Sydney Contemporary.

VAULT Magazine

07/09/2026

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