Canberra galleries were back in business in 2022 with some impressive shows

There is little doubt that 2020 and 2021 were anything but normal years for the visual arts in Canberra. Art galleries were frequently locked down, shows scarcely attended or completely virtual, and mask-wearing patrons were ordered to keep their distance.

This year, 2022, marked a new normality where postponed exhibitions were dusted off and presented to the public and signs seem to appear that announced that the visual arts sector was once again open for business.

Shakespeare to Winehouse at the National Portrait Gallery brought this long-anticipated London exhibition to Canberra with its dazzling array of highly recognisable iconic portraits. If not universally applauded, it was difficult to fault traditional masterworks by Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.

Memorable, but possibly less expected inclusions were John Constable's self-portrait sketch, David Hockney's confronting self-portrait in homage to Velzquez and Lucian Freud's small but vigorous self-portrait as a 40-year-old.

Another grand scale show is the National Museum of Australia's Feared and Revered: Feminine power through the ages from the British Museum that has recently opened and is scheduled for an eight-month season until August 2023.

Unlike many of its predecessors in this series, this show uses the immense depth of the London collection to subtly probe and question the construct of the feminine in art through the ages.

The National Gallery seems to be experiencing a prolonged bout of long COVID with large sections of the gallery closed for reinstallation or repair. Ceremony: 4th Indigenous Art Triennial would be the pick of the shows for 2022 at this gallery with a crop of less well-known First Nations artists celebrated in this triennial that has been held regularly every five years.

Penny Evans's installation gudhuwali BURN, the collaborative display of the clay vessels by Nicole Foreshew with the bold and dramatic paintings of the late Boorljoonngali, and the paintings by Mantua Nangala were some of the more memorable highlights.

The Canberra Museum and Gallery had a stellar year with their Nolan exhibitions a predictable highlight. The cameo exhibition, Sidney Nolan Inferno show and their version of the Nolan Search for Paradise touring exhibition brought a fresh focus to an artist who is central to their collection.

The somewhat quirky and not fully resolved space of the Strathnairn Woolshed Gallery has been the venue for several memorable exhibitions and, this year, of the creative duo David Jensz and Wendy Teakel. Although the two artists have maintained an independent practice despite their many decades of cohabitation, the show hinted at certain areas of cross-fertilisation. It also, for the first time as far as I am aware, brought to the fore Jensz's powerful monumental drawings.

The Belco Arts Centre has continued to punch above its weight with one of the more memorable exhibits the large-scale installation by Mandy Martin, Alexander Boynes and Tristen Parr: Step Change. Although I may have viewed the work back in August, it readily springs to mind with its sombre majesty and stark but lyrical imagery.

The Drill Hall Gallery appears to be staging fewer exhibitions than before and leaving them on for longer periods of time. The most memorable exhibition this year was a survey show of the Sydney-based colourist Idris Murphy. His rich flows of paint, frequent use of metallic pigments, and simplified blocked-in forms and scratchy designs have become his signature style.

The Megalo Print Gallery held their impressive survey poster exhibition Culture Clubs, as well as the strong print solo exhibition by Silvi Glattauer, Renegotiating the landscape.

Canberra's two principal commercial art galleries, Beaver Galleries and the Nancy Sever Gallery, had a strong year as far as sales were concerned, but both reported a decline in visitations.

In 2022, the appetite for the visual arts was strong and interstate tourism is on the rise, but not up to pre-pandemic levels. This in itself may not be such a bad thing.