The matter at hand

A Together In Art Pocket Exhibition curated by Isobel Parker Philip

Isobel Parker Philip is senior curator of contemporary Australian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

I’ve never been more hyper-aware of my hands. Where they’ve been, what they’ve touched, how long since they’ve been washed.

But hands do much more than pass on pathogens. They shape the way we move through the world – the way we socialise, the way we communicate and caress.

With our hands…

We enfold and embrace...

AGNSW collection Peter Peryer Thea's Hand 1997

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/363.1998/

We mark the rhythm of a day through repeated gestures...

AGNSW collection Max Dupain Untitled (hands and watches) 1936-1939

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/100.2003.19/

We navigate and calculate risk...

AGNSW collection Edward Steichen The Play of Modern Hands (hands of Ilka Chase, Backgammon) 1931

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/237.1989/

We grip – white-knuckled and wary...

AGNSW collection Pat Brassington The permissions #3 2013

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/302.2013.3/

We surrender...

AGNSW collection Michael Riley Untitled (crucified hands) 1992

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/397.1993/

We yearn...

AGNSW collection Max Dupain Untitled (fashion illustration: hands with pearl necklace) 1930s

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/102.2003.21/

We desire...

AGNSW collection Anne Zahalka Allure 1993

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/203.2011.1/

And yes, we protect.

AGNSW collection David Moore CSR employees, Pyrmont - 3 1984

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/249.1987/

(The end)

AGNSW collection Ronnie van Hout Self titled 1995

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/107.2002/