Art Wank

Juno Gemes is a Hungarian-born Australian photographer, publisher, and social justice activist. Her photographs are held in major Australian collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Australia. Her work has played a significant role in documenting First Nations cultural strength, political activism, and contemporary Australian history.

In this episode of Art Wank, we speak with acclaimed Australian photographer and activist Juno Gemes, whose work has documented the lives, culture, and political struggles of First Nations people for more than five decades.

Born in Budapest and arriving in Australia as a child, Gemes began her creative life in theatre before turning to photography in the 1970s. Her images have become an invaluable visual record of key moments in Australia's history, including the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, land rights campaigns, the handback of Uluru, and the National Apology to the Stolen Generations.

Known as a "quiet activist," Gemes discusses the role of photography as witness, collaboration, and social change. We explore her time with Sydney's legendary Yellow House artist collective, her approach to building trust with communities, and why visibility and representation have remained central to her practice.

The conversation also touches on a life spent moving between photography, publishing, theatre, and activism, and reflects on the responsibilities artists have when documenting people, place, and history.

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Paul Connor is an Australian painter whose practice centres on landscape, observation and environmental engagement. Originally trained in architecture, he later completed a Master of Fine Art at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, graduating with first-class honours. Connor has exhibited for more than three decades and is represented in collections throughout Australia and internationally. Known for his expressive interpretations of place, he continues to build upon the rich tradition of Australian landscape painting while addressing contemporary concerns about the environment and cultural connection to country.

In this episode, we explore the work and career of Australian artist Paul Connor, a painter whose practice is deeply rooted in the tradition of landscape painting while engaging with contemporary ideas about memory, place and environmental change. Drawing inspiration from direct observation, Connor's work captures both the physical reality and emotional resonance of the Australian landscape. His paintings often evolve from plein air studies, transforming observed scenes into layered compositions that reflect the way places are remembered and reimagined.
Connor's background is unusual in that he initially studied architecture before completing a Master of Fine Art at the University of New South Wales. This combination of architectural thinking and painterly observation has influenced his approach to space, structure and composition. Throughout his career he has exhibited widely, with works held in public and private collections across Australia, Hong Kong and England, and displayed at the Australian Embassy in Beijing.
The discussion also looks at Connor's significant contribution to Australian art through his role as founding director of the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize. The prize helped revive interest in outdoor painting and encouraged artists to engage directly with the landscape. Alongside his artistic practice, Connor has demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental conservation, serving as a trustee of both The Australian Museum and the Lizard Island Reef Research Station.
We examine the evolution of his work from industrial and urban subjects to dramatic coastal environments, remote landscapes and ecological themes. Connor's paintings invite viewers to slow down and reconsider familiar places, revealing the complexity, beauty and fragility of the natural world. His achievements include being a finalist in major Australian art prizes such as the Glover Prize, Mosman Art Prize and Calleen Art Award, and winning the Pro Hart Outback Art Prize in 2024.
Paul is represented by Defiance Gallery.

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Kirtika Kain is an Australian artist of Dalit heritage whose work explores identity, culture, migration, memory and belonging. Through her art and conversations, she brings personal and collective stories into the spotlight, creating space for voices and experiences that are often overlooked.

Her work reflects the complexities of being Dalit, Australian and part of a diverse global community, while celebrating resilience, creativity and the power of storytelling.

Kirtika Kain was born in New Delhi, India and now works on Darug Country, Sydney. Considerations of caste and identity underpin her materially driven practice, which seeks to reimagine personal and collective narratives. Kain’s work has been exhibited widely, both locally and internationally, with notable exhibitions including Adelaide Biennale, 2026; Kochi-Muziris Biennale, 2025; the 24th Biennale of Sydney, 2024; and the 13th Bamako Encounters at the African Biennale of Photography, Mali, 2022.

Kirtika is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney
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Gary Deirmendjian is a Sydney-based contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, video, and site-specific intervention. Working predominantly in public and shared spaces, he is recognised for creating thought-provoking works that challenge audiences through scale, immersion, and unexpected encounters. His projects often explore the social, political, and environmental conditions that shape everyday life, encouraging viewers to re-examine familiar surroundings with fresh eyes.

Deirmendjian has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and internationally, receiving numerous commissions for public artworks, temporary installations, and moving-image projects. Career highlights include presence (2017), a major moving-image commission for Sydney's Wynyard Station, and pulse (2020), commissioned for Federation Square in Melbourne. He was awarded the British School at Rome Residency in 2017 and is the author of the monograph A Prevailing Sense of Disquiet as well as Common Ground, a collection of observations and images drawn from his long-running social media art practice. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the National Art School, where he has taught since 2012.

This week on Art Wank, we sit down with acclaimed Sydney artist Gary Deirmendjian, whose expansive practice spans sculpture, installation, photography, video, and public intervention. Known for transforming ordinary moments into extraordinary encounters, Gary has built a career around paying close attention to the world around him and inviting others to do the same. His projects challenge audiences to slow down, look again, and find meaning in the overlooked details of everyday life.

In this episode, Gary discusses his relationship with the urban environment, sharing how the streets, public spaces, and chance observations that make up daily life continue to inspire his work. We explore the idea of curiosity as an artistic tool and the ways in which public art can interrupt routine experiences, creating moments of reflection, wonder, humour, and sometimes discomfort.

Throughout the discussion, Gary reflects on the importance of observation, experimentation, and remaining responsive to the complexities of contemporary life. Thoughtful, insightful, and deeply engaged with the world around him, he offers a compelling perspective on what it means to be an artist working within public space today.

Gary is now represented by LNL Gallery in Sydney.
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In this episode of Art Wank, we speak with Katrina Cashman, Gallery Manager and Senior Curator at the National Art School, about the exhibition currently on display at the NAS Gallery, Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste.

'Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste celebrates the legacy and significant achievements of Margaret Olley AC – National Art School alum and one of Australia’s most beloved painters – through the lens of the European artistic tradition intimisme, which honours the quiet poetry of domestic life and the interior world.
Drawing from significant public and private collections, Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste traces Olley’s preoccupations from early interiors to her later richly textured compositions featuring floral arrangements, antiques, and domestic objects. Each painting is more than a still life – it is a portrait, a sensory memory, and a trace of the artist’s personal world, animated by beauty.

Curated by NAS Gallery Manager and Senior Curator Katrina Cashman curator in consultation with author and curator Christine France OAM, the exhibition explores Olley’s oeuvre as it relates to place and relationships. Rather than maintaining a separate painting studio, she worked primarily in her own home and those of family and friends. While she occasionally painted landscapes, portraits, and sketched outdoors – particularly while travelling – her principal subjects were interior spaces, window views, and intimate tabletop arrangements, capturing the resonance of light, memory, and everyday experience.
Though working within intimiste traditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Olley led an unconventional life, rejecting traditional domestic roles. Her work was never static, echoing the rhythms of a personal world in flux – shaped by the seasons, light, and her enduring dialogue with art history. Australian Intimiste celebrates Olley’s remarkable six-decade career since graduating from the National Art School and honours the formative relationships and creative communities that sustained her practice.

The exhibition includes more than sixty artworks by Margaret Olley AC and a selection of works by her National Art School friends, teachers and peers including Jean Bellette, Margaret Cilento, Douglas Dundas, Russell Drysdale, Frank Medworth, David Strachan and Tony Tuckson among others. It also includes Sir William Dobell’s famous 1948 Archibald Prize winning portrait of Margaret Olley that caused such a sensation in the day.
A substantial publication accompanies the exhibition, including essays by Katrina Cashman, Dr Georgina Cole, Christine France OAM, Dr Emily Gray and Dr Michael Hill. Publication supported by The Gordon Darling Foundation. Project supported by NAS Gallery Ambassadors.'

The exhibition runs unti October 24th at the National Art School, Forbes St, Darlinghurst, Sydney. 11-5pm Monday to Saturday
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