Dear SWIC members,
This January 2025, Art and Culture Activity will combine with the Monthly Activity to offer our members a chance for a curated viewing of the Magritte Exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW.
René Magritte’s paintings of clouds, hats, pipes and apples are among the most recognisable images of surrealism. Renowned for his deadpan, realist style, the Belgian artist depicted ordinary objects and everyday settings, revealing them to be more mysterious and enchanting than we could ever have imagined.
Magritte is an in-depth retrospective featuring more than 100 works, most of which have never before been seen in Australia. It journeys from the artist’s first avant-garde explorations and commercial works in the 1920s, to his groundbreaking contributions to surrealism, his surprising provocations of the 1940s, and the renowned paintings of his final years, before his death in 1967.
Encounter iconic paintings that highlight Magritte’s profound influence on contemporary visual culture and discover rarely seen works that reveal his subversive sense of humour and the fierce independence of his artistic vision.
The exhibition has been organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales with the close co-operation of the Magritte Foundation, Brussels and in cooperation with the Menil Collection, Houston. It has been made possible with the support of the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Blockbusters Funding initiative and its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. Along with Cao Fei, also at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Julie Mehretu, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Magritte is part of the Sydney International Art Series, bringing the world’s most outstanding exhibitions to Australia, exclusively to Sydney.
DATE: Tuesday 28 January 2025
TIME: 9.15am for a 9.30am tour
VENUE: Art Gallery of New South Wales: Old Building
ADDRESS: Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales has two art museum buildings in the Domain overlooking Sydney Harbour on Gadigal Country. These have been given Sydney Aboriginal language names.
Naala Nura, which means ‘seeing Country’, is the historic building on the south part of the site. (i.e. the old one!)
MEETING PLACE: Outside the Art Gallery no later than 09.15am for a 09.30am start.
This is a Curator Led Tour
COST: $40.00 seniors: $45.00 non-seniors.
Please specify which one you are booking for when you reply
RSVP TO: [email protected]
Attn: Caren Trafford : Magritte
with your name and mobile phone number to confirm your place on the tour.
RSVP BY: 16 January 2025. Do not pay until your place is confirmed.
Limit to 20 persons. There will be a waitlist if necessary.
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
Payment Option 1 (Preferred): By Credit Card through the Payments section of the website
Payment Option 2: Online (direct deposit) into the SWIC bank account
Account Name: SWIC Inc.
BSB No: 062-005
Account No: 11889493
Description: Event + your initial and surname
TRANSPORT: The NSW Art Gallery is located on the Eastern side of Sydney’s CBD, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Domain, just down the road from St Mary’s Cathedral. The Art Gallery is approximately a 5-minute walk from Macquarie Street, across the Domain, or from Hyde Park. Public transit access: St James rail (15-minute walk); Martin Place rail (20-minute walk.
