Image: D Lan Galleries, Melbourne
D Lan Galleries will return to Sydney Contemporary in September with a presentation focused on works by significant First Nations artists from Australia. The booth will be anchored by a group of paintings by the late Anmatyerr artist Emily Kam Kngwarray, alongside works by artists from Yolŋu, Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Spinifex and Gija communities.
‘Sydney Contemporary 2026’ will be held from 3 to 6 September at Carriageworks in Eveleigh, Sydney, on Gadigal Country. D Lan Galleries will occupy Booth B15. The presentation is described by the gallery as a return to the fair, rather than a standalone institutional exhibition.
Kngwarray (c. 1910–1996) is the central figure in the display. The gallery’s announcement follows a period in which her work has been the focus of major retrospective exhibitions in Canberra, London and Switzerland. Her paintings will be shown alongside works by Yolŋu artists Gunybi Ganambarr and Noŋgirrŋa Marawili (c. 1939–2023), including works on bark and metal.
Among the works listed is Ganambarr’s monumental ‘Spring Water Running Through Reeds’ (2024), which features sacred miny’tji designs cut into a large sheet of reclaimed aluminium. The announcement also places the Yolŋu works in the context of the Art Gallery of New South Wales exhibition ‘Yolŋu Power’, described in the source material as having recently concluded with significant public attention.
The booth will include paintings by the late Pitjantjatjara artist Tiger Palpatja (c. 1920–2012), whose works depict his ancestral Country. Works from Palpatja’s estate are scheduled to be exhibited in Australia for the first time. Ngaanyatjarra artist Cliff Reid (c. 1947–2010) will be represented by a survey presentation of compositions drawn from men’s ceremonial designs; the gallery identifies it as its second presentation of Reid’s work.
Two collaborative works by Spinifex artists from Western Australia’s Great Victoria Desert will also be shown. The named artists are Simon Hogan, Lawrence Pennington, Fred Grant, Ned Grant and Roy Underwood, all associated in the announcement with Tjuntjuntjara. A rare group of paintings and works on paper by the late Gija artist and lawman Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (c. 1922–2007) completes the listed presentation. The fair runs from 3–6 September 2026 at Carriageworks.
