An Inspiring Visit: Year 12 Visual Arts Excursion

It was a rainy Wednesday and a perfect day for Year 12 Visual Arts students to take shelter inside two of Sydney’s premier art institutions. Starting at the impressive and newly opened Art Gallery of New South Wales North campus, students had a chance to explore the collection.

“The new building is a series of light-filled pavilions and graceful outdoor terraces that step down towards Sydney Harbour. A vast rammed earth wall cuts a dramatic curve through the building. On the lowest level of the building, discover a space like no other in Sydney: a reclaimed underground fuel bunker built during World War II and previously inaccessible to the public.” - AGNSW

Some of the highlights included Adrian Villar Rojas’ The End of Imagination a unique experience in the shadows of the former bunker where spotlights moved and illuminated large scale sculptural works resembling futuristic creatures. Upstairs students were invited to collaborate in Kimsooja’s installation Archive of the Mind and create clay spheres to be displayed together with the public on mass. Importantly the Year 12 cohort also had a chance to peruse the outstanding student artworks developed for the art-making component of the HSC examination at Art Express. After lunch in the Domain students continued their art adventure at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay. Here they visited the solo exhibition of South Korean artist Do Ho Suh, known for his architectural installations and unusual uses of materials. In Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home Do Ho Suh ambitiously rendered the exterior of his parents’ home in Seoul, a traditional Korean hanok house with its characteristic tiled, curved roof, through a series of paper rubbings and reconstructed at full scale in the Museum. After a full day of viewing, art students came away inspired by what they had seen. They were buzzing with ideas for their own artmaking endeavours and were able to contextualise the art world in relation to their own critical studies about art. A valuable and enjoyable experience we would recommend to anyone on the next rainy day.

“On the excursion I was able to use my knowledge from Visual Arts theory lessons, apply it to the best of the best artworks and understand them better.”

Daniel Holmes

“Visiting the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art was an eye-opening experience for me”

Riley Quinn

“Seeing the artworks on display was motivating for us to do well in our own art making”

David Kang

“I liked seeing the way different artists had played with materials, light and scale”

Matthew Stitt

2022 HSC Visual Arts Highlights

Barker students Kat Negro and Lucy Barden from our HSC Visual Arts 2022 cohort have had their artworks selected for display at the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Wahroonga as part of the Art North showcase of the best student submissions for art making. Kat produced several dramatic charcoal portraits rendered beautifully and Lucy labored over a large scale multicoloured crochet work evoking the Great Barrier Reef. In addition, Oliver Gregg was nominated for Art Express with his graphic design series depicting a digitally illustrated and paradoxical anti-hero.

Rikki Latella Acting Head of Visual Arts