The Big List: The Visual Arts in 2019

2019 was big: big on political unrest, big on international imports, big on empathy and wellness, but mostly, big on celebrating women in the visual arts.

For many in the visual arts, William Forsythe’s kinetic installation The Fact of Matter (2009), pictured above, is a great metaphor for 2019 – the incredible effort required to stay in balance, to progress forward and to do it gracefully when there is no rule book.

Forsythe’s installation is currently part of the exhibition Water (2019) at Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. 2019 has been another turbulent year – these are the big topics and trends that stood out.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina