Present Tense: 35 Years of Australian Art

Anna Schwartz has launched a new book celebrating 35 years of work in the Australian art scene. Written by Doug Hall, Present Tense: Anna Schwartz Gallery and Thirty-Five Years of Contemporary Australian Art revolves around the internationally renowned gallerist. Beginning in St Kilda with United Artists, Schwartz relocated to City Gallery at 45 Flinders Lane before Anna Schwartz Gallery found its current home at 185 Flinders Lane in 1993. Present Tense, published by Black Inc., is a record of her considerable contribution to Australian art and culture and combines historical vignettes, interviews and numerous archival photographs and artworks.

The book launched this November alongside Never the same river, a major exhibition at Anna Schwartz Gallery of 50 international and Australian artists, which draws from the histories of Schwartz's four galleries. The exhibition is designed in collaboration with Denton Corker Marshall, the architecture firm that designed the Flinders Lane Gallery in 1993, and runs in conjunction with the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Spanning the 1980s to the present, Never the same river elaborates the themes, ideas, beliefs and passions that have motivated the featured artists in their struggle to work within and against established conventions. Many works directly engage the political and social contexts of their time, and are redefined by the present tense. Artists include Yinka Shonibare MBE, Candice Breitz, John Stezaker, Erwin Wurm, Angelica Mesiti, Warwick Thornton, Chiharu Shiota, Oliver Beer, Daniel Buren, David Noonan and Eva Rothschild. Never the same river runs until December 21, 2019.

annaschwartzgallery.com
blackincbooks.com