BNE ART - Brisbane Art Guide

17/08/2026

- ARTIST CALL OUT

Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award
Deadline: 6 October

Entries are now open for the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award 2026, a biennial $50,000 non-acquisitive award celebrating excellence in realistic portrait painting.

Presented by the South East Centre for Contemporary Art (SECCA), the award is one of Australia’s major portrait prizes and is distinguished by its commitment to realism. Eligible works must depict a living person known to the artist, who is aware of and has participated in the portrait-making process. Abstraction is not permitted.

More info - bneart.com

Image: Joe Blundell, Today was a good day (detail), Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award 2024 finalist.

11/08/2026

- EXHIBITION IN BRISBANE

Gilang Fradika & Indra Dodi
18 August - 5 September


Mitchell Fine Art presents a new exhibition featuring Yogyakarta-based artists Gilang Fradika and Indra Dodi, strengthening Brisbane’s connection with Indonesia’s contemporary art scene.

The exhibition brings together Fradika’s Primal Visions and Dodi’s The Company We Keep, following the gallery’s presentation of Indonesian artist Arwin Hidayat in 2025 and Gallery Director Mike Mitchell’s visits to artists’ studios in Indonesia.

The exhibition reflects Mitchell Fine Art’s ongoing interest in building cultural dialogue between Brisbane and Indonesia, introducing audiences to artists working within Yogyakarta’s vibrant contemporary art scene.

More info - bneart.com

08/08/2026

- EXHIBITION IN BRISBANE

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah: Undying
13 Aug -7 Nov @ Griffith University Art Museum

Griffith University Art Museum presents Undying, a major solo exhibition by acclaimed Australian sculptor Abdul-Rahman Abdullah.

Commissioned by the Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney, the exhibition brings together intricately carved and painted sculptures exploring humanity’s relationship with life, death, the afterlife and the natural world. Inspired by the Museum’s natural history and antiquity collections, each sculpture is accompanied by a text written by Abdullah reflecting on the animal depicted and its symbolic significance.

Curated by Katrina Liberiou, Undying draws on the artist’s diverse cultural heritage and personal history to examine interconnectedness, storytelling and our responsibilities towards other living beings.

The opening celebration includes an artist talk and exhibition walkthrough at 5:30pm, followed by the exhibition opening from 6:00–8:00pm on Thursday 13 August.

Admission is free, with RSVP requested.

More info - bneart.com /

23/07/2026

- Artist Call Out

M16 Artspace: Drawing Prize 2026
Deadline: 4 October

Entries are now open for the M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2026, a national award celebrating the diversity and innovation of contemporary drawing practice.

Established in 2006, the annual prize welcomes submissions ranging from traditional drawing techniques to expanded and experimental approaches that challenge conventional definitions of drawing.

The exhibition has become a significant fixture in Australia’s contemporary arts calendar, attracting hundreds of entries from artists nationwide.

Supported by The Tall Foundation, the 2026 prize offers a total prize pool of more than $15,000, providing artists with the opportunity to exhibit their work and connect with audiences from across the country.

More info - bneart.com /



Image: WINNER 2025: Surya Bajracharya, Margaret and Frazer Fair, 2025, charcoal. Image by Brenton McGeachie

18/07/2026

- Artist Call Out

Q***r Here 2026
Deadline: 3 August

Applications are now open for Q***r Here 2026, an annual exhibition presented by QCAD Galleries in partnership with Brisbane Pride Inc. Celebrating the talents, visions and lived experiences of q***r creatives from Brisbane/Meanjin, the exhibition returns this September with an open call for artists working across all mediums.

There is no exhibition theme for 2026, giving artists the freedom to submit work that reflects their own practice and perspectives. Submissions are welcome in any medium, including performance, and artworks will be selected by a committee.

Artists are asked to present work that is exhibition-ready, either framed or prepared in a manner suitable for display. Thanks to the generous support of Brisbane Pride Inc., a $500 prize will be awarded to one exhibiting artist during the exhibition celebration event.

Applicants are encouraged to read the Terms and Conditions before submitting.

More info - bneart.com

14/07/2026

- Exhibition in Brisbane

Andy Harwood: Transitional Light
14 - 25 July

Jan Manton Gallery presents Transitional Light, an exhibition introducing Brisbane abstract artist Andy Harwood as the gallery’s newest represented artist.

Installed within the gallery’s stockroom, the exhibition offers an intimate introduction to Harwood’s practice, showcasing a selection of works that explore the relationship between geometry, colour and perception. His meticulously constructed abstract paintings combine mathematical precision with the neurological mechanics of visual experience, creating compositions that balance structural order with emotional resonance.

Harwood lives and works in Brisbane and has developed a distinctive practice centred on geometric abstraction, using carefully calibrated colour relationships and layered synthetic polymers to create works that shift with the viewer’s perception.

Visitors are invited to meet the artist at the opening celebration.

Opening Event
Thursday 16 July 2026
6:00pm – 8:00pm

More info - bneart.com

Image: Andy Harwood, Transitional Light 625 (Magenta / Ultramarine), 2023, synthetic polymer on canvas, 210 × 180 cm.

28/06/2026

- Exhibition in Brisbane

Karla Marchesi: Till and Toil
30 June - 11 July
Jan Manton Gallery

Till and Toil presents a new body of paintings by Karla Marchesi that uses the garden as both subject and metaphor for navigating uncertainty, pressure and change. The exhibition reflects on sustaining hope through periods of personal and collective turbulence.

Drawing together botanical forms, produce and the human figure, Marchesi explores resilience, adaptation and growth under constraint. Tangled vegetation, misshapen vegetables and precarious arrangements become visual expressions of persistence, informed by autobiography, art history and close observation.

Several works respond directly to Lucian Freud’s Interior with Plant, Reflection Listening (Self-Portrait) (1967–68), reimagining listening as an act of reflection and endurance. Elsewhere, vegetables inspired by eighteenth-century market still lifes appear bent, constrained and transformed, while domestic houseplants become quiet witnesses to emotional and psychological states.

Moving between the garden and the interior, Till and Toil embraces the slower rhythms of cultivation, inviting viewers to consider patience, resilience and the possibility that meaningful growth often begins beneath the surface, long before it becomes visible.

Opening Drinks:
4 Jul 2pm – 4pm

More info - www.bneart.com

Image: Undercover, 2026, Oil on linen.

Discover exhibitions, galleries, artists and arts opportunities. Your guide to Brisbane's visual art.

21/06/2026

- Exhibition

Where Do I Belong?
Until August 29 @ Logan Art Gallery

Where Do I Belong? is a contemporary exhibition exploring the beauty, fragility, and future of Australia’s native birdlife. Bringing together local, Queensland, and nationally recognised artists, the exhibition celebrates the connection between art, nature, and community while encouraging reflection on environmental sustainability and conservation.

Through painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and new commissioned works, the exhibition invites visitors to consider their relationship with the natural world and imagine a future where Australia’s birds continue to thrive.

The exhibition features significant loaned works and contributions from leading Australian artists including Richard Lewer, Lucy Culliton, Del Kathryn Barton, Anna Louise Richardson, Michael Cook, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Ben Quilty, Leila Jeffreys, and Dead Puppet Society.

Alongside these nationally recognised artists, fifteen new commissions have been created by local artists, highlighting the depth of creative talent within the Logan region and beyond.

Commissioned Artists:

Louise Wheatley
Edgy and Hedgy
Migaloo Press Artists Collective
Mary Elizabeth Barron
Rachael Lee
Nadya Wilson
Lexi Tetley
Chelsea Carkeet
Christina Lowry
Sharon McKenzie
Jillian Beardsworth
Nicola Hooper
Therese Flynn-Clarke
Peter Hughes and Monte Lupo Arts
PhilB.

Combining established and emerging voices, Where Do I Belong? offers a hopeful and thought-provoking exploration of belonging, biodiversity, and the shared responsibility of caring for the environments that sustain both wildlife and communities.

More info - bneart.com /

Image: Nicola Hooper, Space invaders and Morris willows, 2024, watercolour and gouache, papercut and wire 76 x 48 cm hung over Space invaders wallpaper, 2026, digitally printed from watercolour drawings and lithographic print, dimensions variable.

20/06/2026

Linde Ivimey: I Will Remember You
Until July 4

I Will Remember You is a new exhibition by acclaimed Australian artist Linde Ivimey, bringing together a collection of recently created sculptures, poppets and charms that explore memory, material histories and acts of remembrance.

Drawing upon nearly four decades of studio practice, Ivimey’s work is shaped through the accumulation of found and repurposed materials including bone, fibres, fabric, remnants and offcuts. Each material carries traces of a previous life, becoming an integral part of the sculptures’ character and meaning. Through processes of gathering, assembling and transformation, these fragments are reimagined into intricate forms that speak to care, intuition and connection.

For this exhibition, Ivimey presents works that move beyond the studio to take on a renewed presence within the gallery space. The sculptures operate as contemporary talismans, bringing together fragments, bodies and histories in a quiet but powerful act of remembrance. Through their delicate construction and evocative materiality, the works invite reflection on memory, loss, renewal and the stories objects can carry.

Linde Ivimey has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and is represented in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, University of Queensland Art Museum and Newcastle Art Gallery.

11/06/2026

Ben Ely: Unknown Sector Of The Universe
9 June – 4 July
Woolloongabba Art Gallery /

Step beyond the boundaries of everyday reality in Unknown Sector Of The Universe, a solo exhibition by Brisbane artist and musician Ben Ely.

Through vibrant paintings and speculative imagery, Ely imagines a realm beyond time, memory and known existence. Creating an otherworldly sanctuary built from accumulated moments, the exhibition invites viewers into a mysterious space where imagination, wonder and possibility converge.

Exploring themes of escapism, contemplation and the unknown, these works offer an immersive journey into a universe that exists just beyond perception.

Opening Event
Wednesday 17 June 2026
6:00pm – 8:00pm

More info - bneart.com / wag.com.au