Sydney Contemporary today announced over 70 Australian and International galleries participating in the fourth edition of Australasia’s premier art fair, to be presented at multi-arts precinct Carriageworks from Thursday 13 until Sunday 16 September 2018. Sydney Contemporary – Australasia’s largest and most diverse art fair – is now an annual event, in line with major international art fairs around the world, with the 2018 participating galleries list hailing from six continents and featuring artists from 32 countries.

For the first time in 2018, Sydney Contemporary will welcome one of the world’s leading contemporary galleries, Pace Gallery, with bases in New York, Hong Kong, London, Beijing, Seoul, Palo Alto and Geneva, whilst Flowers Gallery of London and New York also debuts at the Fair in 2018. Returning galleries include Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, OLSEN and Sullivan+Strumpf; Melbourne’s Tolarno Galleries and ARC ONE Gallery; Auckland’s Gow Langsford Gallery and STARKWHITE; Sundaram Tagore Gallery of Hong Kong, New York and Singapore; and Singapore’s Yavuz Gallery.

Sydney Fringe Festival, New South Wales’ largest independent arts festival, today announced its most ambitious program yet including a take-over of the entire Oxford Street precinct for a month-long party. Presented from 1 until 30 September, for the first time in 2018 the Fringe will program performances, exhibitions, large-scale events, a festival club and more, in venues on and surrounding Oxford Street in inner Sydney. There will also be activations in the empty storefronts along the strip, continuing the Sydney Fringe Festival’s passion for enlivening Sydney’s unused spaces.

Highlighting the city’s vibrant culture, Fringe will bring life to Sydney suburbs with a diverse program spanning theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry. The 2018 program will feature six festival hubs across the city this September, including its Oxford Street Hub, Liverpool Hub in Western Sydney, Circus Hub, Touring Hub, Dance Hub and Emerging Artist Hub.

Bonhams Australia is delighted to be offering the Australian art collection of the Late Michael Hobbs OAM to market in June. Michael was an avid collector, generous benefactor and friend to many and his collection is a testament to a lifelong passion. Spanning works from the 1960s through to present day, Michael collected vigorously and in-depth, often making gifts of works to public institutions or supporting avant-garde projects. Considered a friend by many leading Australian artists, in January of 2017, Michael was recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the visual arts as a supporter and benefactor.

Michael’s collection is testament to his huge range in taste and a lifetime of collecting with works of all media ranging from the some of his first pieces to his last bought in January 2018. Some of Michael’s earliest acquisitions from Gallery A in the 1960s are on offer including an important work by Ralph Balson, Painting no. 36, 1956 (estimate: $80,000 – 120,000) and a handsome Robert Klippel bronze construction. It is Michael’s passion for sculpture that is evident throughout the collection, with works by Bronwyn Oliver, Caroline Rothwell, Alex Seton, and Nell together with paintings by Cressida Campbell, Rosalie Gascoigne, Nicholas Harding, and Narelle Jubelin.

The 21st Biennale of Sydney, SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement, has entered its final month and will conclude on Monday 11 June 2018. With 70 artists from 35 countries presented across seven venues across inner Sydney, the art team at Biennale Principal Partner TWT Property Group offers tips on how to explore the exhibition over a weekend.

The guide is for Biennale visitors wishing to experience a taste of all seven venues with suggestions from Ariel Zhang, Manager of Arts Initiatives at TWT and Natalia Bradshaw, TWT’s Art Advisor and Curator.

Ariel Zhang, Manager of Arts Initiatives at TWT identified her must-see work as Law of the Journey, Ai Weiwei’s vast 60-metre long inflatable boat located downs the steps in the docks precinct: “Filled with 258 sculptures of anonymous refugees, it is created from the same material used for the vessels that ferry refugees across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece. Take time to read the quotes on freedom, to breath in the heady smell of rubber, and to take note of the conversations – some fraught, some dejected — happening between the still, silent figures.”

Natalia Bradshaw, TWT’s Art Advisor and Curator noted Ciara Phillip’s work as a favourite: “I loved Ciara Phillips’s Workshop which transforms an entire room in the MCA into a printing workshop where members of the community are invited to make art alongside the artist. Not only is the workshop an opportunity to be playful, it also has a serious remit: to comment on the historical use of printmaking politically.”