Recentring Australian Art: Looking Past the Mainstreamis an Australian Research Council-funded project (2018 – 2024) that seeks to document, investigate and understand a broad swathe of Australian visual practice beyond the fixed canons of art history. The project aims to open public awareness to the work of artists who have experienced marginalisation within the art world and within Australian society at large. This includes work by artists with experience of disability or mental health issues; artists with a history of incarceration; artists from refugee and recent migrant backgrounds; and untrained artists who commenced artmaking following a significant life event.
The term ‘Recentring’ in the project’s title signifies our challenge to existing histories of Australian art. We conceptualise the existing canon of art in Australia – which has failed to adequately take account of non-mainstream artists and their work – as a centred, one-dimensional narrative that needs to be replaced by a more multiple understanding of the diversity of artistic practice in this country. The outcomes of the project includes a book and several journal articles, as well as a website and a potential art exhibition.
[Image: Anthony Mannix, Page from Journal of a Madman No. 7, 1989. Photo: Dr Gareth Jenkins.]
Aims of the Project
We aim to:
produce an understanding of non-mainstream artists, their work, and the socio-historical context in which they make their art
develop an art history examining the connections between marginalised and mainstream art practices, and the extent to which non-mainstream artists’ work can and should be acknowledged within a mainstream art historical context
generate a deeper understanding of mainstream art in this country and paint a richer, more complex picture of the history of Australian artistic culture
[Image: Michael Camakaris, Pre, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 168 x 153 cm. Image courtesy of Arts Project Australia.]
This page displays publications produced during the project, as well as related publications by research team members that were published before the project.
[Image: Mark Smith, Welcome, 2018, calico, cotton thread and stuffing, 110 x 55 x 34 cm. Monash University Museum of Art Collection. Image courtesy of Arts Project Australia.]
‘Variation’ is a term that embraces difference, and is core to the excitement and uniqueness of art practice. This book gives much deserved attention to the work of artists with exceptional and varied lived experiences – including neurodiversity, diverse mental health, incarceration, and refugee, migrant and Muslim backgrounds – to transform how we understand contemporary visual art. Readers will encounter new and familiar artists whose artworks and stories are visually impressive and deeply compelling. As this book argues, multiple factors in the art world, and in society more broadly – structural, institutional and historical barriers – have limited proper recognition of the scope of variation in contemporary art practice. Yet as this book demonstrates, the contemporary art world is much more vibrant, diverse, multifaceted and multidimensional than previous histories and canons have depicted. That’s why our central aim in this book is to provide a more diverse picture of contemporary art.
Reviews
‘a wave of new art books is challenging dominant narratives, such as Variations: A More Diverse Picture of Contemporary Art’ (Jane O’Sullivan, Art Guide Australia).
‘The artist’s voice is present throughout, with a mix of profiles and accounts to longer texts that delve into the deeper topics of social marginalisation and understanding of diverse artmaking in Australia today’ (Gina Fairley, Artshub.co.uk).
‘This ambitious book… gives voice – often denied – to artists not commonly represented in the art world machine of exhibition, critical writing and collecting… it is good and important to hear the voices not only of the artists themselves but also a number of critics writing from currently “decentred” positions’ (Colin Rhodes, Raw Vision).
‘rather than exoticizing eccentricity and seclusion… Variations: A More Diverse Picture of Contemporary Art… includes Indigenous artists, artists working through supported studios, Muslim artists, and artists from refugee backgrounds giving accounts of their own work and practice’ (Elyssia Bugg, un Magazine).
‘an attempt to think about the contemporary art world from the edges… to understand the barriers of entry that marginalised communities and individuals face’ (Safdar Ahmed, instagram.com/safdarnama/).
‘Explores the power of diversity in art… an important book’ (Arts Project Australia, threads.net/@artsprojectaust).
‘Variations reminds us of this deep need to express ourselves, despite all odds and obstacles, beyond all conventions, expectations and institutions – to find in that genuine diversity our common humanity, our truth’ (Shaun Tan, publishing.monash.edu).
‘an excellent book, beautifully produced, inspiring’ (Philip Hammial, co-founder of The Australian Collection of Outsider Art).
The project has hosted a number of events. These are listed here along with related events by members of the research team that took place prior to the project.
VARIATIONS: A MORE diverse picture of contemporary art
Book Launch at Storey Hall, RMIT University, 2023. Read more about Variations.
The following people act as members of the project advisory board. They have provided invaluable insight and advice to the project and the research team thanks them for their time and effort.
Peter Fay, Ian MacLean, Alison Bennett, Sim Luttin, Sue Roff, Safdar Ahmed, David Doyle, Lindy Judge, Wart Burg, Michael Camakaris, Nur Shkembi, Max Delany, Peter Waples-Crowe.
Recentring Australian Art 