Young Curators present
Oliver Watts

Me in place and the place in me

Young Curators present Oliver Watts

8 to 22 August 2024

Opening event Thursday 8 August 6pm

Presented by 3:33 Art Projects and Young Curators from Abbotsleigh and Hornsby Girls High School.

The student Young Curators selected works for this exhibition after visiting Oliver Watts in his studio, and viewing his works in exhibitions at Chalk Horse and Art Gallery NSW. The title of this exhibition, a line from the poem A Herbal by Seamus Heaney, was selected by the Young Curators as they felt it embodied the rich illusions that underpin ideas in the paintings of Oliver Watts.

3:33 Art Projects has created the innovative Young Curators art program to partner with secondary schools. It supports education in the arts and provides unique experiences for the students, the school and the broader community whilst supporting Australian artists.

Oliver Watts

Trained as an art historian and curator, Watts has consistently exhibited his paintings. He received his MFA from SCA in 2016 for a series entitled Cordelia/Fool which featured Eryn Jean Norvill as the main protagonist. Watts often uses actors to pose in his works and to collaborate as dramaturgs, to help generate gestures and poses that animate the narratives.  Watts was a founding member of the Chaser as a cartoonist and illustrator, a lecturer at SCA between 2011-2017, and is now Head Curator at Artbank. He has been a finalist in many art prizes including the Archibald Prize (2021, 2023, and 2024) and the Helen Lempriere Travelling Scholarship. His work is held in the collections of National Museum of Australia, Artbank and the Reserve Bank.

Oliver Watts is represented by Chalk Horse in Sydney and This is No Fantasy in Melbourne

Image above: The Wombat Hole, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 153 x 213 cm