Unfamiliar Territory: Angus Nivison

Unfamiliar Territory is a major survey exhibition celebrating five decades of practice by one of Australia’s most respected contemporary painters. Bringing together significant works from public and private collections alongside the artist’s own holdings, the exhibition traces the evolution of Angus Nivison’s deeply atmospheric and abstract engagement with the land. Based in Walcha in the New England region of New South Wales, Nivison’s practice is grounded in place yet resists literal representation. His paintings operate within an abstract and affective register, where landscape persists as an emotional and conceptual presence rather than a fixed image. Through layered surfaces, subtle shifts of colour and immersive fields of mark-making, the works invite viewers into experiences of ambiguity, beauty and contemplation.

Marking the largest solo exhibition of his work to date, Unfamiliar Territory reveals an artist continually pushing the possibilities of abstraction while creating space for reflection, memory and wonder to emerge through the act of looking.

Photo: Angus Nivison, Unfamiliar Territory, 2026. exhibition view. Photo by Simon Scott.