Design writer, editor and long-time observer of contemporary culture, Stephen Todd shares the artists, galleries and conversations he’ll be making a beeline for at Sydney Contemporary’s 10th edition. From must-see booths and ambitious installations to the talks not to miss, here’s what’s on his radar.
Booths
Fox Jensen is my go-to gallery for intellectually rigorous international artists filtered through the personable lens of gallerists Emma Fox and Andrew Jensen. Frankly, I covet one of German painter/sculptor Jan Albers’ chromatic wall-mounted ‘constructions’ which appear so dynamic as to make a room dance – as if absolutely everyone is watching.
Pictured: Jan Albers, stRawbeRRyfields, 2024 Spray paint on polystyrene and wood, acrylic box, 171 x 171, 29cm
Sally Dan-Cuthbert is showing sensual hand-carved timber pieces by Perth artist Olive Gille-Hille and I am there for these stoic mini monoliths that act like evocative totems for the home.
MARS Gallery, i’m looking forward to seeing The Huxleys because the world could do with more unadulterated campery right about now, and this Melbourne duo serves it up in bedazzled dollops.
Pictured: The Huxleys, Nocturnal Bloom, 2026, from the series Radical Joy. Courtesy of the artists and MARS Gallery.
I love the way Cassandra Bird hangs work in ways that bring out aspects or attributes I had not suspected or expected. And I am excited to see pieces by three artists of Indigenous ancestry, Grace Lillian Lee, Danie Mellor and George Cooley, through a uniquely Bird’s eye view.
It simply would not be Sydney Contemporary without Sullivan & Strumpf bringing the presence of iconoclastic ceramicist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran. I missed out on one of his adorable gold-dipped clay statuettes last year and am hoping they might make a comeback for a victory lap right into my inevitable tote bag.
Pictured: Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Studio portait with Liquid Vessels 7, 11, 12, 2026. Photography by Mark Pokorny
Installations
The Reko Rennie installation at the new Sydney Fish Market is bound to be a retina-spinning experience, and will riff nicely on the permanently installed heavy-metal polychromatic ‘playground’ by sculptor Mike Hewson, who has also been invited to take over the Sydney Contemporary Café for the duration of the Fair.
Pictured: Reko Rennie, supplied by Ames Yavuz.
Talks
Curated by Mitchell Oakley-Smith, you could drop me off at any one of the Sydney Contemporary Talks and you’d not hear a peep out of me for the duration. Of particular interest will be ‘Small Space, Big Collection’ since the first is my reality, the second my ambition.
About Stephen Todd
Design Editor, The Australian Financial Review.
Stephen Todd began his writing career in Paris in the early 90s where he was immersed in the worlds of fashion, art, architecture and design. He has contributed to papers such as The New York Times and The Guardian. Today he is the Design Editor of the Australian Financial Review and the Head of Publishing at Powerhouse Museum.
