Aussie artists including Ken Done & Blak Douglas to unveil works alongside kids shark art competition winners at Australian Museum
WHAT Fantastical Sharks & Rays exhibition launch & preview
WHERE Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney
WHEN Friday 6 September, 10am
● 10 Australian artists have created works inspired by 10 winning children’s entries
● Child’s and artist’s work will be exhibited at the Australian Museum from 7 September (National Threatened Species Day) until 8 December
● Over 1500 children entered the Fantastical Sharks and Rays art competition
Leading Australian artists – including national treasure Ken Done, 2022 Archibald Prize winner Blak Douglas and designers Sarah & Sebastian – will unveil their artworks that were inspired by the winners of the Fantastical Shark & Rays children’s art competition at the Australian Museum this Friday 6 September.
The 10 winners will see their portrayals of Australia’s lesser-known and endangered sharks and rays reimagined by renowned artists including Done, Douglas, Sarah & Sebastian, Jennifer Turpin, Billy Bain, Janet Laurence, Dion Horstmans, Rosie Deacon, Dylan Mooney and Jonathan Zawada.
The children’s and artists’ work will then be displayed alongside at the Australian Museum’s Fantastical Sharks & Rays exhibition, which runs from 7 September to 8 December, as well as some of the museum’s preserved specimens.
Ken Done said: “This is a unique project and one that I am immensely looking forward to. If it helps to protect some of the world’s endangered species, that would be a great achievement for us all.”
Dhungatti painter Blak Douglas said: “The idea of translating a student artwork for public exhibition is unique to me. I’m particularly excited here as we shall exhibit within the great walls of my former workplace.”
To raise awareness and help protect Australia’s unique lesser-known and endangered species, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and Humane Society International Australia ran a competition last summer asking budding da Vincis to create an artwork depicting one of 10 of them. Not a lot is known about these creatures, so the children were given a written description of the animals to spark their imaginations. For example, the lined lantern shark was described as “more like a tadpole than a shark, this tiny creature fits in the palm of your hand. With light-emitting organs, it even GLOWS!” We received more than 1500 entries from all over Australia.
The lesser-known sharks and rays include the greeneye spurdog, which uses its big green eyes to see in almost pitch-black depths up to 1km down. The whitefin swellshark will swallow water to swell up almost twice its girth to make itself look bigger and harder to eat.The eastern angelshark lays buried in the sand on the seafloor for days on end before it ambushes prey that swims above it.
