The Australian Government has announced a commitment of over $90,000 to support the M&G NSW touring exhibition, Soft Core. The Visions of Australia grant will provide financial support towards the development and tour of this significant exhibition, featuring the work of 12 pre-eminent international and Australian artists including Mikala Dwyer (AU), Tony Oursler (US), Michael Parekowhai (NZ), Patricia Piccinini (AU), Kathy Temin (AU) and Louise Weaver (AU).  

Soft Core was curated by Micheal Do and was first shown at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in 2016. The exhibition will tour to 11 art galleries and museums across NSW, Victoria and Queensland from February 2017 to June 2019.

‘You could say that staff are pumped (up) about the success of this application to Visions of Australia’ said Michael Rolfe CEO of Museums & Galleries of NSW. ‘Soft Core is a wonderful exhibition and Micheal Do has certainly brought together an exciting group of artists. We are pleased to have this opportunity to present their work in such an energised curated context’.

Soft Core presents artistic practices that explore the many facets of ‘softness’ – from large-scale inflatables to forms made from soft materials to materials that simply look soft. The materials in this exhibition encompass air, inflatable nylon, unfired clay and plastics bags – materials that have been co-opted for their versatility and their mutability between function and emotion. Some of the works in this exhibition require activation – such as electricity or inflation to become whole while others inhabit their softness quietly.

An initiative of the Australian Government’s Department of Communications and the Arts, the Visions of Australia program provides funding for touring exhibitions, ensuring audiences in regional and remote Australia have equal access to arts and cultural material.

Soft Core will open at Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery at 2pm on Sunday 5 February 2017.