Opening at the end of June, Shepparton Art Museum brings the Brett Whiteley Studio experience to Victoria in upcoming major exhibition.

From 28 June, an upcoming major national touring exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales brings the experience of the Brett Whiteley Studio to Shepparton Art Museum (SAM). The SAM presentation of Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio will be the only opportunity for Victorian audiences to experience the show before the exhibition concludes its national tour, and the artworks return to New South Wales.

Offering audiences around Australia a fascinating insight into one of the nation’s most gifted and revered artists, Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio draws from the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Brett Whiteley Studio in Sydney to present a selection of works across a diversity of media to explore the role of Whiteley’s studio spaces in informing the scale and content of his works, and how they became an expression and extension of his artistic identity.

Brett Whiteley (b. 1939, d.1992) is one of Australia’s most beloved and successful artists. In a career spanning three decades, he won the coveted Archibald Prize for portraiture twice, participated in significant exhibitions of contemporary art in Australia and Europe, and now has his work held in the collections of every major museum in Australia as well as in prestigious institutions abroad.

Whiteley’s practice was predominately studio-based, with the artist often working at an easel, on a table, or sometimes directly on the floor, giving him complete control over the conditions of his art-making.

Whiteley’s studio practice began in the mid to late 1950s when he converted his parents’ backyard glasshouse into a makeshift studio. His knack for repurposing spaces served well him during the 1960s, when he travelled extensively across the globe. He also developed a lifelong habit of working in his living spaces, which frequently blurred the line between life and art. A former warehouse in Sydney’s Surry Hills served as Whiteley's studio from 1985 and home from 1988 until his death in 1992 and has been administered as a public museum by the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1995. Now approaching its 30^th anniversary, building upgrades are currently underway to secure the Studio’s ongoing life as a celebrated museum both nationally and internationally.

Included in the exhibition are some of Whiteley’s most iconic paintings, such as The balcony 2, 1975 (pictured above), and Self portrait in the studio, 1976, alongside rarely seen archival photographs from Whiteley’s time in studios across London, New York, and Sydney, which show some of the artworks in various stages of completion, offering a glimpse into his creative world.

Complementing the exhibition experience is a playlist of songs drawn from Whiteley’s extensive vinyl record collection, highlighting the significant role that music played in his studio environments and creative process. Visitors will be able to access the Spotify playlist by scanning a QR code located inside the gallery, and can also discover a replica of Whiteley’s record player and vinyl collection as an extension to the main exhibition.

Nick Yelverton, exhibition curator and curator , Brett Whiteley Studio, says of the exhibition:

“The Art Gallery of New South Wales is thrilled to be partnering with Shepparton Art Museum on the touring exhibition Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio, which has been travelling around Australia since mid-2024. Shepparton Art Museum is significantly the only Victorian venue in the tour.

Bringing together art, music and archives, Inside the Studio is an engaging exhibition that explores Brett Whiteley’s rambunctious studio practice, and visitors can expect to see major works across Whiteley’s 30-year career, from sensitive charcoal drawings of his wife Wendy through to the Archibald Prize-winning painting Self portrait in the studio. This is a blockbuster show that should not be missed.”

The official opening celebration of Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio will be held at SAM on Friday 27 June from 6pm. This free event will include opening remarks, and a first look at the exhibition ahead of its public opening on Saturday 28 June.

Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio is a free, ticketed exhibition, showing at SAM from 28 June to 5 October 2025. Tickets for the first four weeks of the exhibition and the 27 June opening event can now be pre-booked online via the SAM website: https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/whats-on/upcoming/brett-whiteley-inside-the-studio/

Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio is a touring exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Brett Whiteley Studio and has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program.

ENDS

Featured image: Brett Whiteley, The balcony 2, 1975, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1981 © Wendy Whiteley

About the Art Gallery of New South Wales:

From its magnificent site in Sydney, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is one of Australia’s pre-eminent art museums and the state’s leading visual arts institution. Its mission is to serve the widest possible audience as a centre of excellence for the collection, preservation, documentation, interpretation and display of Australian and international art, and a forum for scholarship, art education and the exchange of ideas. The transformation of the Art Gallery – now with two buildings, Naala Badu and Naala Nura, brings together art, architecture and landscape in spectacular new ways with dynamic galleries and seamless connections between indoor and outdoor spaces. Naala Badu is the most significant cultural development to open in Sydney in half a century and is a prominent new destination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture.

About SAM:

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is located on Yorta Yorta Country, Shepparton, Victoria.

As a leading Australian regional art museum, SAM showcases its exhibitions and collections in new and exciting ways, creating a welcoming, inclusive and engaging space for all visitors.

Recognised for its significant Australian ceramics collection and nationally significant collection of Indigenous art, SAM’s programming is designed to be locally relevant and engages with global contemporary ideas. Through its exhibitions, collection, programs and events, SAM creates a place where art helps us to better understand the ancient cultures of this country and contemporary multicultural Australia.