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Artists’ Artists
From the National Gallery of Australia, NGA Art Talks connects you to the artists, creatives and ideas shaping culture today. Find out more at nga.gov.au
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Betty Churcher Memorial Oration: Judy Chicago
38:45|To mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations International Women's Year (IWY) the 2025 Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration celebrates diverse voices and the contributions of artists internationally. Join us for a conversation between ground-breaking feminist artist Judy Chicago and award-winning author and art historian Katy Hessel. Recorded across two continents, delve into Chicago’s experiences as a woman artist from the 1960s to today, how gender has shaped her art and career, and what still needs to be done for gender equality in the arts. Painter, teacher, art critic, television host, author and gallery director, Betty Churcher AO (1931-2015) was part of the lifeblood of the visual arts in Australia. While her father believed ‘education spoiled a girl’, Churcher fought to complete her studies, further her education in London, and to forge a path for women to take positions of authority in the arts in Australia. She was the first woman to head a tertiary institution, become director of a state gallery, and to lead the National Gallery of Australia. Affectionately dubbed ‘Betty Blockbuster’ for her love of bringing major international exhibitions to Australia, Churcher was passionate about making art relevant and accessible. In honour of her legacy, every year since 2022 the Gallery has hosted the Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration, featuring leading women in the arts who inspire creativity, inclusivity, engagement and learning. Judy Chicago is an American feminist artist, art educator, and author known for her large-scale installation pieces, which examine the role of women in history and culture. During the 1970s, Chicago founded the first feminist art program in the United States at California State University, Fresno. Katy Hessel is an art historian, curator, broadcaster and author of The Story of Art without Men. She runs @thegreatwomenartists, an Instagram account that celebrates women artists and hosts The Great Women Artists podcast.
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Betty Churcher Memorial Oration: Maria Balshaw
28:44|Join Director of Tate, UK, Maria Balshaw CBE, for an excerpt from her 2023 Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration. Painter, teacher, art critic, television host, author and gallery director, Betty Churcher AO (1931-2015) was part of the lifeblood of the visual arts in Australia. While her father believed ‘education spoiled a girl’, Churcher fought to complete her studies, further her education in London, and to forge a path for women to take positions of authority in the arts in Australia. She was the first woman to head a tertiary institution, become director of a state gallery, and to lead the National Gallery of Australia. Affectionately dubbed ‘Betty Blockbuster’ for her love of bringing major international exhibitions to Australia, Churcher was passionate about making art relevant and accessible. In honour of her legacy, every year since 2022 the Gallery has hosted the Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration, featuring leading women in the arts who inspire creativity, inclusivity, engagement and learning. As we count down to the 2025 oration – featuring feminist artist Judy Chicago in conversation with art historian Katy Hessel – we revisit these orations from women who share Churcher's groundbreaking spirit. Maria Balshaw was appointed as Director of Tate in 2017, and like Betty Churcher, was the first woman to hold this position. A champion of inclusivity, under Maria’s leadership Tate has reframed its global context including elevating the climate crisis, gender equity, and decolonisation. You can view Maria's entire oration here: https://nga.gov.au/on-demand/betty-churcher-memorial-oration-2023/
Betty Churcher Memorial Oration: Dame Quentin Bryce
36:34|Painter, teacher, art critic, television host, author and gallery director, Betty Churcher AO (1931-2015) was part of the lifeblood of the visual arts in Australia. While her father believed ‘education spoiled a girl’, Churcher fought to complete her studies, further her education in London, and to forge a path for women to take positions of authority in the arts in Australia. She was the first woman to head a tertiary institution, become director of a state gallery, and to lead the National Gallery of Australia.Affectionately dubbed ‘Betty Blockbuster’ for her love of bringing major international exhibitions to Australia, Churcher was passionate about making art relevant and accessible. In honour of her legacy, every year since 2022 the Gallery has hosted the Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration, featuring leading women in the arts who inspire creativity, inclusivity, engagement and learning.As we count down to the 2025 oration this International Women’s Day – featuring feminist artist Judy Chicago in conversation with art historian Katy Hessel – we revisit past orations from women who share Churcher's groundbreaking spirit.In this episode, you’ll hear from another Australian trailblazer: Dame Quentin Bryce, Australia's 25th and first female Governor-General. Dame Quentin devoted attention to social justice and human rights issues, placing special emphasis on promoting and protecting the rights of the country’s First Nations peoples.Recorded during her lecture in Canberra in 2024, Bryce reflects on the life and legacy of her friend Betty Churcher and celebrates the contributions of women in the arts.
5. Ben Quilty
26:51||Season 2, Ep. 5Artists' Artists is a podcast where contemporary artists shed light on works of art from the national collection that inspire, move or intrigue them.Ben Quilty was born in 1973 in Sydney. He emerged in the early 2000s with a breakthrough series of 14 paintings of his beloved 1972 Holden LJ Torana. Working across drawing, printmaking, sculpture and installation, Ben exhibits prolifically both locally and internationally, exploring imagery and ideas that are at once personal, political and cultural. The National Gallery has been collecting Quilty’s work since 2007.Artworks discussed:Emily Kam Kngwarray, Anmatyerr People, Yam awely 1995, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, gift of the Delmore Collection, Donald and Janet Holt 1995 © Emily Kam Kngwarray/Copyright AgencyClarice Beckett, Evening Landscape c 1925, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 1974John Glover, Mount Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point 1834, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Nerissa Johnson Bequest Fund 2001, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and National Gallery of AustraliaDavid Hockney, A Bigger Grand Canyon 1998, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased with the assistance of Kerry Stokes, Carol and Tony Berg and the O'Reilly family 1999 © David Hockney
4. Jenny Watson
23:26||Season 2, Ep. 4Artists' Artists is a podcast where contemporary artists shed light on works of art from the national collection that inspire, move or intrigue them.Jenny Watson is an Australian artist who has been painting for more than four decades. Born in Melbourne in 1951, her work is inspired by punk and feminism, her memories and dreams, fantasies and fears—and in particular her love of horses. She employs collage, text, self-portraiture and humour to create powerful narratives about growing up in the suburbs and making her way in the world. In 1993 she was the first female artist to represent Australia in a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Works of art discussed:Jackson Pollock, Blue poles 1952, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1973 © Pollock-Krasner Foundation. ARS/Copyright AgencyRobert Jacks, Grey grid 1974, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, gift of Daniel Thomas, 1980 © Robert Jacks/Copyright AgencyJeffrey Smart, Playground (Children playing) 1951, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased with the assistance of James Agapitos OAM and Ray Wilson OAM 2007 © The Estate of Jeffrey SmartHal Missingham, Artist’s outing, Sydney Harbour 1969, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1974 © The estate of Hal Missingham
3. Urs Fischer
22:19||Season 2, Ep. 3Artists' Artists is a podcast where contemporary artists shed light on works of art from the national collection that inspire, move or intrigue them.Urs Fischer was born in Switzerland in 1973. Now based in Los Angeles, he creates works of art from materials as varied as gesso, photography, latex, paint, bronze, clay, steel, dirt, and even food. His wildly original, often humorous images and objects can disorient, bewilder, and often amaze. He's possibly best known for his ephemeral wax candle sculptures, which gradually burn down while they're on display, before being recast. In 2018, the National Gallery acquired Fischer's four metre high wax candle sculpture, Francesco.Works of art discussed:Charles Conder, Bronte Beach 1988, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased from Gallery admission charges 1982Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, Luritja/Warlpiri peoples, Water Course 1972, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, the Peter Fannin Collection of Early Western Desert Paintings, 1998 © the estate of the artist, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency LtdSidney Nolan, Collage from “The Disciple” c 1939, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1992 © Sidney Nolan TrustSalvador Dali, Lobster telephone 1936 National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1994 © Salvador Dalí. Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí/Copyright Agency
2. Juz Kitson
21:10||Season 2, Ep. 2Artists' Artists is a podcast where contemporary artists shed light on works of art from the national collection that inspire, move or intrigue them.Juz Kitson was born in Sydney, and divides her time between the Australian south coast and Jingdezhen the ‘porcelain capital’ of China. Her intricate, evocative sculptures—which she creates from materials including porcelain, fur, paraffin wax, silk, resin, glass and bone—begin, she says, from ‘gathering resources, experiences, and connections—human connection, connection to land, and connection to different customs and culture’. The result is a body of work that explores, in the artist’s words ‘sex, the nature of humans and animals, ideas of womanhood, birth and death’. The National Gallery has five of her works in its collection. Works of art discussed:Sarah Lucas,TITTIPUSSIDAD 2018, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Sarah Lucas, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London Rosemary Laing, flight research #6 1999, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2001 © Rosemary LaingLouise Bourgeois, Tracey Emim, Carolina Nitsch Editions, Dyenamix, And so I kissed you 2009-10, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2020 © Tracey Emin/Copyright AgencyPaul Greenaway, Sumo and Sabrina 1977, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Crafts Board Collection donated by the Australia Council 1982