The Idea of Art

Contemporary art can be bewildering for the uninitiated. Here, curator Anthony Bond maps out a way of thinking about art of the late twentieth century – and appreciating its innovation.

In 1984, Tony Bond was given the opportunity to build a contemporary art collection at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from scratch. The collection now contains over 400 works from artists like Anselm Kiefer, Rebecca Horn, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Yves Klein and Rachel Whitehead, whose work offers new ways ofthinking about representation in art. Bond explores the gallery’s contemporary art collection, providing an overview of the ideas behind key works and offering insights from the artists themselves.