On view: 1 March to 29 June 2003

An exhibition of Whiteley and other Australian artists drawn from collection of the Art Gallery of NSW and the Brett Whiteley Studio Museum.

Whiteley describes the spectacle of a typically Australian enjoyment of sand and surf as a "theatre of sloth" !

On the Beach celebrates Australia's unique relationship with the beach featuring works drawn from the collections of both the Brett Whiteley Studio Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The spectacle of Australians enjoying the sand and surf was thought of by Brett Whiteley as a "theatre of sloth". This beach scene provided endless muses for his studies of reclining nudes and bikini-clad beauties.

It was not only the allure of these "inherently erotic bodies [in] languid stupor" that compelled Whiteley's fascination for this iconic aspect of Australian landscape, it was also the beautiful vistas of beach and seascapes which provided such fertile ground for Whiteley's inspirational paintings and drawings. He saw ..."great beauty in the beaches, the water, the sand, the sky. At dusk you can stand there and watch the whole universe."

Whiteley's unique rendering of such experiences provides the focus for this exhibition, and is an ideal context in which to explore the reactions of other notable Australian artists to the nation's beach culture.

In the exhibition Australians' love affair with the coastal landscape is explored through works by Brett Whiteley and other Australian artists including Lloyd Rees, Garry Shead and Anne Zahalka. Photographery by Max Dupain, Mervyn Bishop and Robert McFarlane will also be on display.

The images tell of sensory pleasures derived from a total immersion in the experience of being in the surf, or the mediatory mood of simply staring out to sea.

Curator Sheona White has said, "while beach culture and its natural surroundings pervade the Australian psyche, typically our expectation of Australian landscape only extends to depictions of the bush. This exhibition draws out elements of an array of beach imagery in Australian art, celebrating this aspect of life cherished by many who live here."