Sullivan+Strumpf adds up-and-comer to its stable

Words: Charlotte Middleton

Leading Sydney gallery Sullivan+Strumpf has shared news of its representation of multidisciplinary artist Julia Gutman. The Sydney-based artist uses found textiles like the donated clothes of friends and family to explore themes of femininity, intimacy, and memory.

Gutman graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from UNSW in 2015, going on to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design in 2018. The latter saw Gutman considering materiality more deeply, and ultimately precipitated a shift towards her working with found textiles.

“Specifically [my art] is more about… those pieces of ourselves that we leave behind in each other, and how we’re made of everyone that we meet,” said the artist.

Armed with a sewing machine, Gutman meticulously weaves personal and immersive details into her pieces, which aim to probe the boundaries between subject and object, compliance and deviance.

Gutman has gained both local and international prominence and acclaim in recent years through her exhibitions across Australia, Rome and New York. Recently, she was a finalist in both the Create NSW 2020 Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship, and the 2021 Ramsay Art Prize.

Gutman’s technical, contemporary, and deeply considered approach to textile ‘patchwork’ pieces has also seen her profiled by major media outlets such as the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Arts and Ocula.

Julia Gutman will present her debut exhibition with Sullivan+Strumpf in July 2022.

This article was originally published 20 September 2021.

Image: Julia Gutman in her studio. Photo: Simon Hewson. Courtesy: the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney.