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Stanley Street Gallery

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Stanley Street Gallery

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Stanley Street Gallery is a platform dedicated to championing some of Australia’s most exciting early-career artists and pioneering contemporary craftspeople.

Stanley Street Gallery is a multi-disciplinary exhibition space showing a diverse range of mediums including Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Wearable Art, Ceramics and Video. Presenting critical and experimental work, the gallery seeks to give space to innovative and diverse practices that contribute to the local and international Arts communities. Founded by Liza Feeney and Merilyn Bailey, Stanley Street Gallery has developed a reputation for championing early career Artists and Curators in the commercial sector. Feeney and Bailey met at Sydney College of the Arts in 1980 while studying for a Bachelor of Visual Arts and decided to pursue their passion and commitment to the Sydney Arts by founding the gallery in 2012. Stanley Street Gallery hosts a program of 12 exhibitions a year and community events such as plays, poetry readings and book launches and is the primary coordinator of Sydney East Art Walk, a quarterly initiative supported by 19 galleries in the East Sydney Art precinct. Notable exhibitions have included - 2020 Jackson Farleys ‘Testament XVIIII’, 2019 Amy Dynan’s ‘Water’, Shaun Haye’s ‘I Guess This is Growing Up’, Shaelene Murray’s ‘Kin’; 2017 Baltimore artist Rachel Timmins ‘Unexpected Companions; 2015 Chinese artist Shunzan Fan ‘Between Heaven and Earth’. Stanley Street Gallery acknowledges and pays respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which Stanley Street Gallery is built and operates. We pay our respect to the Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.

01/10/2026

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing oour dear friend and artist, Robin Lawrence 1935 -2026

Robin devoted her life to art. From receiving a scholarship to East Sydney Technical School (now the National Art School) at just 15, to studying and painting in Europe, New Zealand and New York, and ultimately returning to Sydney, painting was at the heart of her life.

She was a gifted painter, a dedicated teacher and a deeply thoughtful artist whose work continued to evolve throughout her long and extraordinary career. Portraits held a special place in her practice, and her work was exhibited in Sydney, including in the Archibald Prize in 2000.

Robin was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2010 for her contribution to the arts.

There is also a very special place for Robin in the history of Stanley Street Gallery. On 4 October 2012, Stanley Street Gallery opened its doors for the very first time, and Robin Lawrence was the first artist we exhibited. It feels profoundly fitting that the beginning of the gallery’s journey was shared with such a remarkable artist and dear friend.

Over the years, we had the privilege of watching Robin continue to paint with the same dedication, curiosity and passion that had guided her throughout her life. Her work, her teaching, her generosity and her friendship have left an enduring mark on so many of us.

We feel enormously privileged to have known Robin and to have shared part of her extraordinary journey.

Vale Robin. Your paintings will live on, and your memory will always be part of Stanley Street Gallery. You will be deeply missed.

Pictured: Robin Lawrence in her Glebe studio.
Red Over Jars and Brushes
Robin Lawrence - The Dreaming Chair - Red, Oil on Canvas 120x110 2012 .
Robin Lawrence Green vs Shadow , exhibition poster

23/09/2026

Pierre Cavalan
‘Amulets for the day after tomorrow’
17 September - 3 October, 2026
 Artist talk: Saturday 26 September, 3 ~ 4pm
RSVP link via bio

Thank you to all who came out to celebrate Pierre Cavalan’s exhibition ‘Amulets for the day after tomorrow’ last Saturday!

Please join us this Saturday 26 September for Pierre’s artist talk.

As lovers of contemporary jewellery, we are delighted to present new works by Australian-French artist Pierre Cavalan.

It has been 25 years since Pierre last presented an exhibition of his jewellery, making Amulets for the Day After Tomorrow a much-anticipated return.

For this new body of work, Cavalan has drawn from his legendary collection of objects, gathered over a lifetime. Through these objects, he muses on the curious nature of the things we choose to hold onto — and, perhaps more importantly, the power and meaning we imbue them with.

As a French-Australian, Pierre has long been interested in the curious interplay between clarity and ambiguity in language. His discovery of the word apotropaic — describing objects, symbols or rituals believed to protect against evil, bad luck or harmful spiritual forces — offers a particularly succinct way of considering both his practice and this new body of work.

We have all crossed our fingers, touched wood, or carried something for luck. Looking at these pieces, we wonder: which of these amulets will you be drawn to? We would love to know.

As a highly regarded and collected artist, Pierre’s work is held in major public and institutional collections in Australia and internationally, including the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Powerhouse Museum, Canberra Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, and Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, among many others.

We look forward to sharing Pierre’s extraordinary new works with you.

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Installation Images: Byron Martin Byron Martin Photography

17/09/2026

Agus Wigaya is exhibiting work at Western Sydney University along with nine other contemporary Indonesian artists.

‘Tapestry of Encounters: Contemporary Indonesian Art’
Dates: 19 August – 6 November, 2026
Venue: Building EA, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University
Hours: Monday – Friday 9:30am – 5:pm

The exhibition is presented by the institute for Australian and Asian Arts and Culture (IAC) in partnership with Redbase Gallery, Sydney and Kabo Art Collector, Melbourne

Agus Wijaya
REDBASE Australia
Western Sydney University

03/09/2026

Pierre Cavalan
‘Amulets for the day after tomorrow’
17 September - 3 October, 2026

Opening celebration: Saturday 19 September, 5 ~ 7pm Artist talk: Saturday 26 September, 3 ~ 4pm
RSVP links via bio

This exhibition presents contemporary jewellery by Pierre Cavalan (Pierre Cavalan) , featuring wearable objects assembled from unusual and quirky fragments collected over many years. Created in the aftermath of the global disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the works reflect a period of reflection, uncertainty, and re-imagining of everyday life.

During and after the pandemic, ordinary objects gained new meaning as people reconsidered their relationship with materials, memory, and the environment. Cavalan gathers overlooked pieces—discarded fragments, curious materials, and found elements—and reassembles them into imaginative forms. These wearable sculptures suggest artifacts from another time: relics that seem both ancient and futuristic.
Rather than traditional jewellery meant only for decoration, these works appear as objects belonging to mythical beings of the future.

They imagine a world where adornment tells stories of survival, transformation, and adaptation. Each piece becomes a small narrative—part talisman, part sculpture—hinting at characters that might inhabit a future mythology.

Through playful assemblage and unexpected combinations, the works invite viewers to reconsider what jewellery can be: not only an ornament for the present, but a speculative artifact for worlds yet to come.

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Artist portrait: Maigread Jardine
Artwork images: Irena Conomos
Exhibition text: Written by Pierre Cavalan with the assistance of ChatGPT, 2026, OpenAI

14/08/2026

Lucy Chetcuti
Thought forms from the q***r utopia imaginarium
Until 29 August, 2026

Artist Talk: Saturday 15 August 2026, 3 ~ 3:45pm
RSVP link via bio

Lucy Chetcuti (Lucy Chetcuti) is an emerging artist based in Kamberri/Canberra with a growing exhibition history and recognition across Australia. She has presented four solo exhibitions, including All Fours at Canberra Contemporary Art Space Manuka (2023), Causal Relationships at Strathnairn Arts (2022), and Undivided Attention at The Front Gallery (2022) and Waxing, Waning at M16 Artspace (2015).

Chetcuti has featured in several curated group exhibitions including Exhibition No.1 at Civic Art Bureau (2024), Monuments of Nature at Red Gallery in Melbourne (2024), On Exhibition at Stanley Street Gallery (2024), Loose Ends at ANCA (2024), and Hot Mess at Sawtooth ARI (2024). She was selected for BLAZE at CCAS Lakeside (2023), and has participated in exhibitions at Beaver Galleries, M16 Artspace, and the ANU School of Art and Design Gallery. She has twice been a finalist in the Goulburn Art Award (2022, 2024), exhibited in Small Dreams and Reprise at Stanley Street Gallery, and multiple exhibitions at Tributary Projects.

Her practice has been recognised with several awards. In 2021, she received the ANU School of Art and Design Drawing Prize, the M16 Residency and Exhibition Prize, and the CAPO Allinsure Emerging Artist Award. That same year, she undertook a six-month studio residency at M16 Artspace.

In addition to her art practice, Lucy has curated several exhibitions, including Cathy Zhang: Medium of Wonders at ANU’s China in the World Gallery (2024) and The Fig Tree, a gallery exchange project with UNSW AD Space (2019). Her multidisciplinary approach and commitment to community-led projects reflect a practice grounded in an evolving engagement with place and identity.

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Images by Byron Martin Byron Martin Photography

13/08/2026

Emily Valentine | ‘Native Narrative’
Until 29 August, 2026

Artist Talk: Saturday 15 August 2026, 2 ~ 2:45pm
RSVP link via bio

Emily Valentine (Emily Valentine) is a contemporary mixed-media artist living and working in Australia and her native New Zealand. Originally trained as a jeweller, she has developed a distinctive sculptural practice that uses feathers as her primary medium - painting with feathers to transform familiar forms into extraordinary hybrid creatures. Through meticulous craftsmanship and an acute eye for detail, Valentine creates richly textured works that blur the boundaries between sculpture, jewellery, and natural history.

Inspired by the landscapes and wildlife of the Pacific, Valentine constructs imagined species from ready-made figurines, combining Australian fauna with the colours and textures of indigenous bird feathers. These playful yet unsettling sculptures evoke a speculative future in which nature, fantasy, and genetic possibility converge. Beneath their beauty lies a deeper enquiry into humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

Central to Valentine’s practice is the ethical sourcing of her materials. Since first incorporating feathers into her work in 1999, she has predominantly used feathers gathered from roadkill or naturally moulted by pet birds. By repurposing these overlooked remnants, she encourages viewers to consider the value we place on different species and to question the unconscious hierarchies that classify animals as cherished or expendable, beautiful or ordinary.

Valentine has received international recognition for her work. She won the 2014 WOW Factor Award at the World of Wearable Art Awards and has received honours including the Cat Advocate Prize for Emerging Artist and the Alice Springs Acquisition Award. Her work is held in the collections of the National Library of Australia, the Northern Territory Art Gallery, and the World of Wearable Art Museum, New Zealand.

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Images by Byron Martin Byron Martin Photography

12/08/2026

Artist Talks
Lucy Chetcuti + Emily Valentine
Saturday 15 August, 2026

Emily Valentine Emily Valentine : 2 ~ 2:45pm
Lucy Chetcuti Lucy Chetcuti : 3 ~ 3:45
RSVP links via bio

You are warmly invited to join us this Saturday, 15 August, for two artist talks.
At 2 pm, Emily Valentine will talk about Native Narrative, followed by Lucy Chetcuti at 3 pm, speaking about Thought forms from the q***r utopia imaginarium.
Both talks will be informal and conversational, with an opportunity for questions and discussion with the artists.
We’d love for you to join us and hear more about the ideas, stories and processes behind these exhibitions.

We look forward to seeing you at the gallery!

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Images by Byron Martin Byron Martin Photography

06/08/2026

Emily Valentine
Native Narrative
6 - 29 August, 2026

Opening celebration: Saturday 8 August, 5:30 ~ 7:30pm
Artist Talk: Saturday 15 August, 2pm
RSVP links via bio

Emily Valentine is a contemporary mixed-media artist living and working in Australia and her native New Zealand. Originally trained as a jeweller, she has developed a distinctive sculptural practice that uses feathers as her primary medium—painting with feathers to transform familiar forms into extraordinary hybrid creatures. Through meticulous craftsmanship and an acute eye for detail, Valentine creates richly textured works that blur the boundaries between sculpture, jewellery, and natural history. 
Inspired by the landscapes and wildlife of the Pacific, Valentine constructs imagined species from ready-made figurines, combining Australian fauna with the colours and textures of indigenous bird feathers. These playful yet unsettling sculptures evoke a speculative future in which nature, fantasy, and genetic possibility converge. Beneath their beauty lies a deeper enquiry into humanity’s relationship with the natural world. 
Central to Valentine’s practice is the ethical sourcing of her materials. Since first incorporating feathers into her work in 1999, she has predominantly used feathers gathered from roadkill or naturally moulted by pet birds. By repurposing these overlooked remnants, she encourages viewers to consider the value we place on different species and to question the unconscious hierarchies that classify animals as cherished or expendable, beautiful or ordinary. 
Valentine has received international recognition for her work. She won the 2014 WOW Factor Award at the World of WearableArt Awards and has received honours including the Cat Advocate Prize for Emerging Artist and the Alice Springs Acquisition Award. Her work is held in the collections of the National Library of Australia, the Northern Territory Art Gallery, and the World of WearableArt Museum, New Zealand.

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Artist portrait: Sandy Edwards
Artwork images: Courtesy of the artist

05/08/2026

Lucy Chetcuti
Thought forms from the q***r utopia imaginarium
6 - 29 August, 2026

Opening celebration: Saturday 8 August, 5:30 ~ 7:30pm
Artist Talk: Saturday 15 August, 3pm
Live Performance | DJ Genie Stuart: Saturday 29 August, 4 ~ 6pm
*RSVP links via bio

Thought forms from the q***r utopia imaginarium is an exhibiution of imaginative new works that arise in a complex and dystopian time. These horrors are not new to many people, there is a heightened awareness that the structures holding the Western world together are failing now more than ever. In order to fight for a better world, we must first imagine that another world is possible. This requires creativity, hope, and determination. Q***r Utopianism is not merely fantasy or escapism, it’s a socio-political tool which inspires change.

This exhibition reaches for an idealised q***r utopia in response to the rise of fascism, white supremacy and imminent climate collapse. What does it mean to choose to move forward with a vision and inspire hope for conscious world-building? How can we create sanctuaries of safety and community for the oppressed and ensure their survival? There is an argument to be made that there is no better time than now to dream of something better. Our capacity for change is determined by the limits of our imagination, and creativity is a necessary condition of hope.

Cultivating a utopian vision for the future, nurturing it, and sharing it is just one small step in the work that must be done. The vivid, abstract paintings in this exhibition are inspired by tree canopies, seen through the eyes of a q***r person searching for hope, joy, beauty, intimacy, community and connection. The works are an expression of a deeply personal inner world, coded in the language of abstraction.

“We must recognize and nurture the creative parts of each other without always understanding what will be created.”
- Audre Lorde

***

For all enquiries or catalogue requests please email us at [email protected]

Artist portrait: Litia Roko
Artwork images: Brenton McGeachie

Address

1/52-54 Stanley Street
Darlinghurst, NSW
2010

Opening Hours

Thursday	11am - 5pm
Friday	11am - 5pm
Saturday	11am - 5pm

Telephone

+61293681142

Website

http://www.stanleystreetgallery.com.au/

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