Curtain Call

In 1991 Bob Hawke was Prime Minister of Australia, The Simpsons debuted on Channel 10, Boris Becker beat Ivan Lendl in the Australian Open Tennis Championship, Tim Berners-Lee introduced the web browser, Nirvana released Nevermind, and Stills Gallery opened its doors at 16 Elizabeth Street, Paddington.

At the time Founder and Co-Director, Kathy Freedman announced “There’s a lot of very important and exciting work being done at present using photographic images. Stills will be providing the opportunity for people to see a wide range of current work.” From these small beginnings - a roomsheet created on a typewriter and black & white prints selling for around $200 - Stills Gallery has shifted and evolved to keep up with changes in the way we produce, enjoy and understand photography. These changes have included the move to a large converted warehouse space in 1997, to accommodate the larger works being produced by artists, and the handing over of the baton from Co-Director Sandy Edwards to current Co-Director, Bronwyn Rennex along the way.

We are really proud of the artists we have worked with and the exhibitions we have mounted over the years. It has been a privilege to work with such a diverse range of talented artists. And we've enjoyed sharing their works with the world - whether in Paddington or Paris... William St or Waterloo. We've also enjoyed the artworks themselves - looking at them (in the flesh), thinking about them, writing and talking about them... and of course selling them. We have relished their power to challenge and move us.
In our final exhibition Curtain Call, we are taking the opportunity to look back over the history of the gallery and will present the mother of all salon hangs featuring over 70 artists from over the 26 years of exhibitions including.

We’ll also be featuring ‘a work a day’ on our Facebook and Instagram feeds – where we ask friends, colleagues, collectors and artists to nominate a work or artist that has spoken to them over the history of the gallery.

Please join us for this final celebration of all the fantastic artists Stills has worked with over the years.