A major new retrospective from pioneer Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist and the first art exhibition in Sydney devoted to the Dutch golden age featuring masterpieces by Rembrandt, and a rare Vermeer, will be presented alongside as part of the 2017-2018 Sydney International Art Series.

NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres announced the two exceptional exhibitions for the 2017-2018 Sydney International Art Series which will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Art Gallery of New South Wales.

“The Sydney International Art Series has attracted 1.7 million attendees and generated more than $122 million in overnight visitor expenditure for NSW since its inception and is a massive win for visitation in NSW” Mr Ayres said.

“Securing these remarkable collections, to be shown exclusively in NSW in 2017-2018, reaffirms the reputation of the Sydney International Art Series for bringing the world’s most outstanding art exclusively to Sydney.”

Over the past 30 years, Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist has achieved international renown as a pioneer of video art and multimedia installations. Her dazzling, large-scale installations incorporate video, sculpture and performance and often envelop viewers in vibrantly coloured projections of light and music to create sensual and immersive environments.

The MCA is thrilled to be collaborating with the artist to produce the most comprehensive exhibition of her work ever to be staged in Australia. Curated by MCA Senior Curator Natasha Bullock and presented from 1 November 2017 to 18 February 2018, this major new retrospective will include key audio-video installations from the beginnings of Rist’s career to the present, as well as major video objects, exemplifying the broadness of her artistic practice and engagement with this medium. Rist’s exhibitions and installations have drawn record crowds across the globe, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2009. Later this month, she will also have a major survey of her work presented at the prestigious New Museum in New York.

Museum of Contemporary Art Director, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, said, “Pipilotti Rist is one of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Her lush and playful multi-screen video installations are audience favourites wherever they are shown and will no doubt captivate visitors here in Australia. Pipilotti’s work reimagines the possibilities of the video medium and it is hugely exciting to be presenting in Sydney her very first museum exhibition in the region.”