The National Art School (NAS) has unveiled a dynamic new chapter in its gallery’s history. Celebrating 20 years of the National Art School Gallery, the institution presents SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art, a major exhibition running as part of the Sydney Festival until 11 April 2026.
This ambitious showcase brings together over 35 artists from across four decades, united by a single, compelling medium: spray paint. Curated by Australian artist and NAS lecturer Fiona Lowry alongside NAS Senior Curator Katrina Cashman, SEARCHERS is an exploration of visibility, creative resistance, and the blurred lines between subculture and fine art.
The Evolution of the Spray Can
Once merely a commercial product introduced in the mid-twentieth century, spray paint rapidly evolved into the defining tool of late-20th-century graffiti. It became the voice of marginalised communities, a weapon of visibility, and a method of reclaiming public space.
SEARCHERS traces this evolution, examining how spray paint moves fluidly between the street and the gallery. It highlights how the medium has amplified voices outside institutional frameworks while simultaneously reshaping the visual language of contemporary art itself.
Fiona Lowry, the exhibition’s co-curator, found inspiration close to home. “The concept for ‘SEARCHERS’ began at home, watching my son fall into the disciplined, almost monastic world of graffiti,” she explains. “What seemed like a teenage obsession quickly revealed itself as a demanding aesthetic education – a community built on mentorship, repetition and the relentless refining of form.”
Lowry recognised a shared intensity between the underground world of graffiti and her own practice as an artist. “This grew into a curatorial investigation into how graffiti and contemporary art are interconnected practices shaped by transmission, influence and an urgent need to create.”
A Convergence of Worlds
The exhibition features an impressive roster of artists, bridging the gap between legendary graffiti writers and celebrated contemporary figures.
The line-up includes leading 20th-century Australian artists such as Howard Arkley, Tony McGillick, and Sidney Nolan, alongside contemporary heavyweights like Adam Cullen, Shaun Gladwell, Ben Quilty, and Joan Ross.
Crucially, the exhibition places these fine artists alongside influential graffiti writers who have shaped the culture on the streets. Names like BAGL, BREAK, LAZY, MACH, SPICE, TAVEN, and SNAIL are featured, as well as younger writers POWER and RUM.
It also spotlights contemporary artists who began their creative lives as graffiti writers, such as Reko Rennie and Ben Aitken, demonstrating the enduring influence of the medium on their professional practice.
Exhibition Highlights
SEARCHERS is not just a display of canvases; it is an immersive experience that echoes the realities of graffiti practice.
- Ephemeral Walls: Nine large-scale works have been painted directly onto the gallery walls by leading graffiti writers including SPICE, MACH, and BAGL. These ephemeral pieces reflect the temporary nature of street art, destined to be painted over just as they would be in the urban environment.
- Reko Rennie: The Kamilaroi and Gamilaraay artist exhibits works that employ spray as a decolonial language. His roots as a graffiti writer remain central to his practice, using aerosol to assert identity and presence.
- Khaled Sabsabi: Renowned Lebanese Australian artist Sabsabi, who will represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, presents foundational early works connecting to his history as a hip hop artist.
- Callum Morton: The exhibition showcases Morton’s 2002 installation Motormouth, a monumental freeway structure that demonstrates how spray operates within public art and architectural contexts.
- Latai Taumoepeau: In her Dark Continent series, performance artist Taumoepeau documents a 48-hour performance where she used her body to probe Australian national identity through the repeated application of artificial spray tan.
- Joan Ross: Using both physical and digital spray, Ross disrupts colonial imagery. Her video work, The Claiming of Things, treats aerosol as a tool of correction and protest, challenging power narratives.
A Dynamic Cultural Lineage
The title of the exhibition is derived from street slang, but it also speaks to a deeper artistic truth. As Katrina Cashman notes, “The title of the exhibition comes from street slang and the idea that artists are in essence, searchers: claiming spaces that are not always open to them, searching for expression, borrowing and reinterpreting ideas that have been handed down, reshaped, and renewed over generations.”
By bringing these diverse voices together, SEARCHERS offers a rare opportunity to witness the transmission of influence from one writer to another, and from the street to the studio. It is a celebration of a medium that refuses to be silenced and a culture that continues to define the visual landscape of our cities.
Exhibition Details:
- What: SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art
- Where: National Art School Gallery, Sydney
- When: On now until 11 April 2026
- Entry: Free