I previewed Sydney Contemporary 2025 – here’s why it’s worth going to this weekend

• Sydney Contemporary highlights for 2025 include a bigger focus on photography and 9 large-scale installations.
• This year, there are 116 exhibiting galleries and more than 500 artists.
• Art Night is back on the Thursday night with live music and entertainment for one big art party.

Carriageworks has turned into a carnival of art for the 9th annual Sydney Contemporary, set for four days of glorious gallery hopping spread all across the enormous Eveleigh institution.

Photography, resin works, painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, steel sculptures. The variety of mediums standing across this industrial behemoth builds Australia’s leading art fair into a remarkable display of where we’re at right now. That is, the art world. A wide, colourful snapshot of this country’s place on the global stage, as told through 116 exhibiting galleries representing more than 500 artists.

I’ve always thought Sydney Contemporary is the single best opportunity to deepen ones knowledge of the depth and breadth of Australia’s art scene. You’ve got hundreds of curators all in the one space, all very keen to discuss where art is going. All with differing opinions and perspectives as well. Plus, there’s a full Champagne bar so it’s a great opportunity to drink fine wine, discuss art in all its glory, and maybe even invest in a few pieces yourself.

But it is overwhelming. It always is. And for 2025, the curators have put together an overly ambitious program that dwarfs last year’s 85-gallery schedule. Everyone’s got art to sell, and there’s so much variety on offer that all tastes are catered for this year, from photography all the way through to resin art.

And it’s more than just an opportunity for the uber-wealthy to furnish their homes.

Is Sydney Contemporary worth going to?

Yes, but you’ll need to measure yourself. There is so much art on display that it’s hard to know where to start this year.

The event is critical to the growth of the art market in Australia, and so each gallery is going to be putting their best foot forward in hopes of not just continuing the cultural conversation around local and international art, but also driving up sales. Each edition to date has drawn in 25,000 visitors and generated over $138 million in art sales.

This means your typical rainy-day gallery-hopping weekend is tightened into just one, manageable space, rather than spread out all across the city. That alone makes Sydney Contemporary such a valuable weekend for those with both a keen love of the arts, and casual enthusiasts looking to deepen their knowledge on the creative industries.

Last year’s Sydney Contemporary was marked by Lisa Roet’s impressive 20-metre-wide Skywalker Gibbon sitting on the roof of Carriageworks. This year, arrival will be framed by Aotearoa’s Lisa Reihana and her major outdoor work, snaking over the entrance with hundreds of reflective discs that shimmer with the wind.

Highlights of Sydney Contemporary 2025

Australia’s best galleries each shoulder their own section of Carriageworks with some of their favourite artists on display. But Sydney Contemporary is much more than just grabbing a flute of Champagne and browsing an overabundance of art, talking to curators, and exchanging ideas.

New for 2025 is Photo Sydney, an entire section dedicated to contemporary Australian photography in all its many forms. This includes Toby Burrows’ new series of photographic works exploring rich landscapes set against a series of ornate mirrors. Also on the cards, a solo exhibition of new works by US-based Australian photographer George Byrne from his acclaimed Synthetica series.

STATION gallery presents Zac Langdon-Pole’s intriguing “Memory Garden”, a series of five 1:1 marble replicas of iconic sculptures from antiquity and modernity, including Michelangelo’s David and Rodin’s The Kiss. They’ve been reproduced on site with their human figures removed, leaving only rocks, foliage and stumps. It’s a comment on the ghostly persistence of collective memory.

Potts Point gallery CASANDRA BIRD is showcasing this year’s MA Art Prize winner,  Juanita McLauchlan. Her piece, Mandaymanday / string of stars, is one of many artworks showcasing a distinctly Australian voice. With her entry, the Wagga Wagga–based Gamilaraay artist uses native and colonial materials to create a distinctive impression of Wiradjuri Country while symbolising connections of bloodlines across generations.

Artist Johnny Niesche draws on recent collaborations with stalwart Aussie musician Mark Pritchard to present guests with a mix of sound and art. Low-frequency sound and vibration is used to heighten Niesche’s paintings, which draw on atmospheric qualities of colour field painting and spiritual abstraction.

And while all of this is happening, the weekend will also host a Talks program with industry leaders discussing everything from how to buy art to how to design spaces for an artful life. Also included on the schedule, “My brat summer”, sitting at the uncommon crossroads of high-brow and low-brow with a panel of artists intent on rewriting the rules of art with irony and “high-gloss bravado.”

How do I get tickets to Sydney Contemporary 2025?

One of the best nights in the art world’s calendar is Art Night on the Thursday night, serving as the action-packed opener for Sydney Contemporary each year. You can grab a ticket for $65 in advance ( or $75) on the day to mingle with the art world amongst live performances from cutting-edge contemporary artists and a special DJ set.

The other special event is Friday Night, kicking off from 4pm for four hours of culture, cuisine and creativity. Live music soundtracks a scene of food and drink pop-ups while all sections remain open. Tickets for that one are set at $40 in advance of $45 full price.

If you just want to head along during the day, General Admission tickets are $35 in advance and $40 in full. This includes access to all exhibitions and public programs schedule during your chosen day. Children under 12 get in for free when accompanied by a paying adult.

Sydney Contemporary

Where: Carriageworks, Eveleigh
When: September 11-14, 2025

sydneycontemporary.com.au