In our first exhibition of Australian art, 16albermarle director John Cruthers considers the contemporary art he encountered after moving from Perth to Sydney to attend the Australian Film and Television School in 1977. His work on short films such as Serious undertakings (1983, director Helen Grace) and Camera natura (1984, director Ross Gibson) led him to post-modernism, and after the 1983 Perspecta exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales he became an enthusiastic viewer and collector of the new work. In 1985 he became an adviser helping people learn about and collect this art.

Re/production explores the influence of post-modernism and postcolonial themes in the work of 25 artists whose works he collected and recommended over the period. Artists include Howard Arkley, Angela Brennan, Ian Burn, Janet Burchill, Stephen Bush, Eliza Campbell & Judith Lodwick, Juan Davila, Anne Ferran, Tim Johnson, Tim Johnson & Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, David Jolly, Narelle Jubelin, Pat Larter, Vivienne Shark LeWitt, Geoff Lowe, Linda Marrinon, Elizabeth Newman, John Nixon, Susan Norrie, Luke Parker, Mark Titmarsh, Peter Tyndall, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn and Judy Watson. A highlight is a group of 10 works by Tim Johnson exploring the development of his practice from 1977 to 1983 and documenting his growing engagement with Aboriginal art and artists from Papunya.

Eliza Campbell & Judith Lodwick, The pioneer (after McCubbin) 1990

Presenting a deliberately broad selection, Re/production highlights the diversity of approaches and styles of the period and the engaging quality of the works. Comprising artworks purchased by John and his clients, the exhibition makes the case for focused, inventive and intellectually speculative private collecting, and the recognition of its value as an alternative to objective institutional collecting.

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