The National Gallery of Victoria will soon play host to the largest-ever exhibition of Del Kathryn Barton’s works. The Highway is a Disco will feature a curated selection of over 100 collages, sculptures, textiles and films from the two-time Archibald prize winner’s 22-year-long career.
The Highway is a Disco will debut Barton’s latest work, a never-before-seen sculpture that deals with the artist’s relationship to her mother in the wake of terminal illness.
Barton has won two Archibald Portrait Prizes, one for a 2008 self-portrait with her two children, and another for a 2013 portrait of Australian actor Hugo Weaving. The Sydney-born artist also scored big with her first short film, the 2015 fantasy The Nightingale and the Rose, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s 1888 book. The piece won the 2016 AACTA award for Best Short Animation. Barton then released the short film RED, starring Australian actress and Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett. It will be on show at the exhibition.
The exhibition is free and runs from November 17 to March 12 at NGV Australia’s Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square.