For the tenth iteration of the Sydney International Art Series in 2019–2020, the MCA is proud to present a major retrospective of British artist Cornelia Parker, OBE and Royal Academician.

Curated by MCA Chief Curator Rachel Kent in close collaboration with the artist, this Sydney-exclusive exhibition will feature over 40 artworks from across the artist’s career, including large-scale installations, embroideries, works on paper, video works, and a selection of small-scale sculptures and objects.

Cornelia Parker (born 1956) is well known for her transformation of everyday objects into unexpected, haunting scenarios – things are exploded, shot, turned back to front, and rearranged in often surprising ways. Working with sculpture and installation, as well as drawing, photography and film, Parker positions her subjects at the very moment of their transformation, suspended in time and completely still.

“This is the first time Australian audiences will have the opportunity to see a major show of one of the most important women artists working today. She even numbers previous SIAS artist Yoko Ono among her admirers,” Macgregor said.

Parker was elected to the Royal Academy of Art, London, and made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2010. She was elected the Apollo Awards Artist of the Year in 2016 and awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester the following year. In 2017, she was appointed as the first female Election Artist for the United Kingdom General Election. In this highly visible role, she observed the election campaign leading up to the 8 June vote, met with campaigners and voters, and produced art works in response.

This survey exhibition at MCA Australia is a world first, and the premiere opportunity for Australians as well as international visitors to engage in depth with this acclaimed artist’s work.

Exhibition highlights include 6 major installation works, including Thirty Pieces of Silver (1988–1989), Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991), Magna Carta (An Embroidery) (2015) and War Room (2015). Alongside these major pieces will be a selection of works the artist created during her appointment as the 2017 Election Artist for the UK General Election, as well as her Avoided Object series of smaller-scale works, in which the artist has transformed everyday objects through processes of burning, squashing and flattening.

The MCA would also like to acknowledge the generous support of Catriona and Simon Mordant AM as Principal Exhibition Patrons of its Sydney International Art Series exhibitions.

Cornelia Parker will show at the MCA from 8 November 2019 to 16 February 2020 as part of the Sydney International Art Series. Japan supernatural, an immersive, multi-sensory exhibition of more than 200 works of Japanese art, will show at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from October 2019.