Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery

History

The gallery opened in Macdonald Street, Paddington, in March 1982 with an exhibition of paintings by Gareth Sansom. The gallery's second exhibition was part of the Biennale of Sydney, when gallery artist Juan Davila's multi-panel work Stupid as a Painter quickly gained notoriety.

In 1990, the gallery moved to its current location in Soudan Lane, Paddington, opening with an exhibition of paintings by John Nixon. That year the gallery was invited to participate at Art Cologne, the first of many involvements at international art fairs.

In 1993, Jenny Watson became the first Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale, with subsequent artists being Bill Henson (1995), Patricia Piccinini (2003), Callum Morton (2007), Hany Armanious (2011) and Fiona Hall (2015). Representing New Zealand have been gallery artists Jacqueline Fraser (2001), Michael Parekowhai (2011) and Bill Culbert (2013). During the 1980s and 1990s, gallery artists were also selected for the Venice Biennale's 'Aperto' section, including Dale Frank (1984), Maria Kozic (1986) and Tracey Moffatt (1997).

Another hallmark of Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery has been the regular exhibition of artists not represented by the gallery. These have included Marc Newson (1986), Harry Seidler (1992, 2004), Pierre et Gilles (1995), Erwin Olaf (1996), Robert Mapplethorpe (1996, 1997, 2000), William Yang (1997), Mariko Mori (1997), Elmgreen and Dragset (2000), Tracey Emin (2004), Hernan Bas (2007) and Michael Bell-Smith (2007).

In January 2013, Roslyn Oxley and Tony Oxley were awarded Medals of the Order of Australia for their services to the country's visual arts and the community.

Artists

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery represents a diverse list of over 40 contemporary artists, and the estates of Robert Campbell Junior, Rosalie Gascoigne and Bronwyn Oliver. The gallery has nurtured the international careers of Australian artists such as A Constructed World, Fiona Hall, Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, David Noonan and Patricia Piccinini, and has actively promoted the work of international artists such as Wim Delvoye, Isaac Julien, Teppei Kaneuji and Yayoi Kusama.

As well as the Venice Biennale, gallery artists have often exhibited at major international surveys, including the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Daniel Boyd, Destiny Deacon, Fiona Hall, Newell Harry, Tracey Moffatt, Bronwyn Oliver, Michael Parekowhai, Gareth Sansom, Kathy Temin and Rohan Wealleans); the Auckland Triennial (Fiona Hall, Callum Morton, Michael Parekowhai, Julie Rrap and Kathy Temin); the Berlin Biennale (Patricia Piccinini); the Biennale of Sydney (James Angus, Hany Armanious, Destiny Deacon, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Rosalie Gascoigne, Fiona Hall, Newell Harry, Lindy Lee, Tracey Moffatt, TV Moore, Callum Morton, David Noonan, Michael Parekowhai, Patricia Piccinini, Julie Rrap, Gareth Sansom, Vivienne Shark LeWitt, Jenny Watson, Rohan Wealleans, John Wolseley, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu and Anne Zahalka); the Busan Biennale (Hany Armanious, TV Moore, Callum Morton and David Noonan); documenta (Tony Clark, Destiny Deacon and Fiona Hall); the Gwangju Biennale (Tracey Moffatt, Michael Parekowhai and Patricia Piccinini); the Istanbul Biennial (Newell Harry) and David Noonan); the Liverpool Biennial (Tracey Moffatt and Patricia Piccinini); Biennale d'art contemporain de Lyon (Tracey Moffatt); Manifesta (Kathy Temin); the Moscow Biennale (Fiona Hall); São Paulo Art Biennial (Michael Parekowhai); the Singapore Biennale (Tracey Moffatt); the Tate Triennial (David Noonan); and the Yokohama Triennale (Destiny Deacon).

Exhibition of Bill Henson works

In May 2008, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery was preparing for an exhibition of the works of artist Bill Henson. The subjects of some works included nude teenage children. Following public complaints to the New South Wales police by eight individuals, including a complaint made by Hetty Johnston, a child protection advocate (from the organization Bravehearts), police raided the gallery and took into custody over 20 of Henson's photographs. The police considered whether the gallery or Henson may have committed an offence of "production, dissemination or possession of child pornography". In the following days, ACT Policing also seized Henson works, held by the National Gallery of Australia, for consideration under separate legislation. Around two weeks after the photographs were taken from the gallery by police, prosecutors recommended against the laying of charges. The incident sparked national debate, and some other galleries, including Newcastle Art Gallery and Albury Art Gallery, removed Henson works from their walls.

In May 2010, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery hosted another show of Henson's work. The gallery submitted some of the works to the Australian Classification Board prior to exhibition, to obtain a classification. The Board concluded that the images would be "unlikely to offend a reasonable adult".

Art fairs

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery participated in the inaugural Melbourne Art Fair in 1988, and since 1990 has been especially active in the international arena. Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery appeared for seven consecutive years at Art Cologne (1990–96, 2012). In 1996 it was invited to Art Basel in Basel, appearing for 13 consecutive years. There have been regular appearances at Art Forum Berlin (1997–98, 2010), ARCO (2000–02), The Armory Show (2000–04, 2006), Art Hong Kong (2010–14) and the VIP Art Fair (2011–12). In 2013, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery was the only Australian gallery to exhibit at Frieze New York. The same year it was selected by the international editors of Time Out as one of the highlights of Art Basel Hong Kong.

Publications

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery's extensive photographic archive has contributed to a number of exhibition catalogues, monographs and artist books, including:

Articles