Curator's Talk: Olive Cotton and her contemporaries

Explore Olive Cotton and her contemporaries with National Gallery of Australia Curator, Anne O’Hehir.

Olive Cotton (1911‒2003) is now recognised as one of Australia’s most significant photographers, especially notable for her images that draw attention to the immersive qualities of photography. Cotton began taking photographs with a Kodak Box Brownie when she was 11, and by the early 1930s was an integral member of a vibrant creative community in Sydney that included her good friend (and later husband) Max Dupain. She spent the decade making some of the most innovative photographs in the history of Australian photography, which she published and exhibited during this period, including internationally.

For the first time, this exhibition brings together Cotton’s photographs and the work of her leading international peers. These include outstanding works from the national collection by key modernist photographers such as Dora Maar, Berenice Abbot, Lucia Moholy, Edward Weston, and Tina Modotti. These are some of the most celebrated figures in international photography, and provide a perfect context for appreciating Cotton’s great work.

Join Anne O’Hehir (National Gallery, Curator, Photography) as she guides you through an insightful exploration of this exhibition about one of Australia’s greatest photographers

Find out more about Olive Cotton and her contemporaries.

Olive Cotton and her contemporaries is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of The Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

ADMISSION FREE 
AGES: All ages

TO BOOK: Register via Eventbrite or email cowraartgallery@cowra.nsw.gov.au
• Gallery events may be photographed and images used for publicity and promotional purposes on Council’s websites, publications, social media or by newspapers.
• If you do not wish for your image (or the image of your child) to be published, please notify Gallery Staff before the event.

This event is part of the National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition Olive Cotton and her contemporaries, presented at Cowra Regional Art Gallery. These programs are generously funded by the Bowness Family Foundation.

IMAGE ABOVE Olive Cotton, Surf's edge, c. 1935, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2012  

 

• Gallery events may be photographed and images used for publicity and promotional purposes on Council’s websites, publications, social media or by newspapers.
• If you do not wish for your image (or the image of your child) to be published, please notify Gallery Staff before the event.
• Photography is permitted by visitors. No flash allowed.

 

 

 

  

When

Location

Nguluway Room, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, 77 Darling Street Cowra, 2794, View Map