In the lead-up to Sydney Contemporary 2025, we spoke with Jack Willet, Director of 1301SW, about the gallery’s evolving philosophy, memorable moments in his curatorial journey, and what visitors can expect from their upcoming presentation. Rooted in an ongoing dialogue between context and concept, 1301SW continues to push the boundaries of exhibition-making, with new work that engages deeply with both material and idea. As Willet puts it, “1301SW has an innate curiosity in exploring the diverse concepts of its artists… developing an exhibition program of changing agency: states of consistency and deviation, familiarity and inconclusiveness.”
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How would you characterize the philosophy of 1301SW as a gallery?
It is both multi-pronged and concise. Being gently attached to its sister galleries in Los Angeles and Auckland, this connection to the larger artworld is immensely beneficial, but the gallery has also created its own vision and language, one chiefly concerned with the context it provides its artists. I see 1301SW having an innate curiosity in exploring the diverse concepts of its artists and through its larger output, which has seen us develop an exhibition program of changing agency: states of consistency and deviation, familiarity and inconclusiveness.
Lime and limpid green, a second scene (Part One), 2024 (installation view). Courtesy of 1301SW.
Could you share one of the most memorable moments you’ve had working as a gallerist?
The most memorable moments are over meals with artists, where a kind of dance with discourse and dialectics unfold over full plates and flowing glasses. Seeing glimmers of new ideas, existing ones needing to be massaged, and most importantly the removal of art as a topic, talking to other subjects and interests which inevitably find themselves in the work.
Diena Georgetti, The Civilization of the Abstract, 2025. Courtesy of the artists and 1301SW.
What are you most excited about for Sydney Contemporary 2025?
We will be presenting new aspects and developments by some of our artists at Sydney Contemporary, including a new work from Diena Georgetti which further deepens her collage-like engagement with AI, in combination with her own unique way of painting. This work collides technology, research (obsession), scale, space, form and figure into a remarkable — and sizable — painting in three distinctive yet cohesive sections. Also, outside of our booth in the project space, Jonny Niesche is undertaking the next iteration of his immersive installations which utilise a stretched mirror film, sound and vibrations to further warp our perception of his already hazy paintings.
Jonny Niesche, We take infinity into our lungs (for G.B.), 2024. Courtesy of the artists and 1301SW.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the next 10 years of 1301SW?
Consistency and change.
Fiona Pardington, Kārearea (below), Hunter, 2024. Courtesy of the artists and 1301SW.
1301SW | STARKWHITE will present work by Andrew Beck, Diena Georgetti, Heather Straka, Jonny Niesche, Jelena Telecki, Tim Bučković, Fiona Pardington, and Bill Hensonat Sydney Contemporary 2025. Tickets to Sydney Contemporary are on sale now.
