Narrowing down highlights from Sydney Contemporary 2025 is no easy task. We’ve asked sharp-eyed art lovers to share what they are most looking forward to seeing at this year’s Fair.
Arts advocate and Venue Owner and Operator of The Vanguard Beau Neilson, shares her top picks for this year’s fair. Here’s what caught her eye at Sydney Contemporary 2025.
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Talks
Designing Spaces for an Artful Life
Friday, September 12, 2025 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Talks Space, Carriageworks
Hotels, galleries and offices can optimise the emotional impact of art and design to create highly desirable environments beyond the home. This session brings together: the interior designer of Sydney’s chicest new hotel, the architects of some of NSW’s major cultural destinations and a gallerist renowned for parlaying artists into some of the most chic hospitality and workplace settings.
“Collectibles in our homes often become our gateway into art collecting later in life.”
Learn More: Designing Spaces for an Artful Life
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The Art of Going Public: Behind the Scenes of Public Art
Thursday, September 11, 2025 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Talks Space, Carriageworks
Public art continues to be a vital and growing part of the arts sector – and increasingly central to contemporary artistic practise. Sydney is renowned for its bold and visible public art, but how do these projects actually come to life? Who funds them, who collaborates on them, and what value do they bring to our city? Join us for an open, “ask us anything” conversation with key players behind public art: an artist, a curator, a developer, a local council rep, and a maker. Together they’ll unpack the processes, partnerships and possibilities that shape art in the public realm.
“Public art has the power to transform spaces and create bold, uniting experiences.”
Learn More: The Art of Going Public: Behind the Scenes of Public Art
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Installations
Jonny Niesche with Mark Pritchard
Sound and Vision (Reflect what you are, in case you don’t know), 2025
Presented by 1301SW | STARKWHITE
Jonny Niesche expands painting into a multisensory experience, merging colour, light, surface, and sound to heighten our perceptual awareness. His reflective and translucent surfaces—crafted from sheer fabrics, reflective metals, and mirrored substrates—create visual fields that shift in response to the viewer’s movement and their architectural surrounds.
For Installation Contemporary, Niesche presents a major new work that builds on recent collaborations with Mark Pritchard. These installations utilise low-frequency sound and vibration to subtly activate the body and space, creating a synesthetic encounter with Niesche’s paintings. Drawing on the atmospheric qualities of colour field painting, psychedelia, and spiritual abstraction, these works invite a contemplative, almost meditative engagement with the sensorial present.
“Really interested in how sonic experiences shape visual ones. This promises to be beautifully immersive.”
Learn More: Installation Contemporary
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Artists
Mike Hewson – Michael Lett Gallery
Image: Mike Hewson, GeoPets, 2025, studio production detail. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett, Auckland
“His engineering background and innovative use of materials shows us beauty in things too easily overlooked. He’s also my partner, so I’ve had a ring side seat to the works’ creation.”
Learn More: Michael Lett Gallery
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Nic Fern – C. Gallery
Image: Nic Fern, ‘The Allegory of Bloom’, 2025. Photo by Joshua Morris.
“Her embroidery work is both charming and deeply reflective.”
Learn More: C. Gallery
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Yang Yongliang – Sullivan + Stumpf
“His work is always arresting and I enjoy how he challenges the line between city and nature.”
Learn More: Sullivan + Stumpf
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Atong Atem – MARS Gallery
Image: Atong Atem, 3 of Cups, 2025. Courtesy of MARS and the artist.
“Intimate portraiture and vibrant textiles create compelling and personal visual narratives.”
Learn More: MARS Gallery
Locally, for those seeking a drink and a change of scenery on Sunday afternoon the 14th, The Vanguard is hosting “Ricardo’s presents Velvet” – this music event resurrects Sydney’s underground sound where community, emerging talent, and creativity converge.
