The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) announces the final Quarter Four of its fiftieth-anniversary program, presenting exhibitions and screenings that navigate femininity in extremis, technocapitalism and First Nations worldviews, and the underground gay scene of 1960s Tokyo.
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Joel Sherwood Spring: Diggermode 2: Cloud Ceding
Wiradjuri artist Joel Sherwood Spring returns to the IMA with a major installation combining documentary and narrative filmmaking, 3D-generated simulations, archival materials, and sculptural elements. The work traverses soldier-settlement histories, land-title registration, lifestyle vlogging, data-centre monopolies, and Australia’s Pacific role in securing future rare-earth extraction.
(A joint project with the 2026 Adelaide Biennial, curated by Ellie Buttrose and Robert Leonard, supported by Creative Australia, the Keir Foundation, and IMA Commissioners Circle.) -
Confronting Femininity
Featuring three Brisbane artists across generations—Rosemary Laing (1959–2024), Natalya Hughes (1977–), and Michaela Stark (1994–)—this exhibition explores femininity in extremis, confronting familiar Western archetypes while making femininity itself confronting. -
Film Screening: Toshio Matsumoto, Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
Loosely adapted from Oedipus Rex, this New Wave feature examines the underground gay scene of 1960s Tokyo—drag bars, performance art, fuzz guitars, and the collision of politics, pleasure, and identity.
Opening Event: Friday 3 October 2025
Images: Rosemary Laing ‘a dozen useless actions for grieving blondes #10’ 2009. Joel Sherwood Spring ‘Diggermode 2: Cloud Ceding’ 2025. Toshio Matsumoto ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ 1969.
