Sydney International Art Series (SIAS) has announced the 2013–2014 exhibition program for the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. The AGNSW will host the largest survey of American paintings ever exhibited in Australia, while the MCA will present a retrospective and exhibition of works by Yoko Ono, covering an artistic career that has spanned five decades. This is the fourth year SIAS have organised large scale international exhibitions for the major galleries in Sydney. Previous exhibitions have included Francis Bacon and Picasso at the AGNSW, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Anish Kapoor at the MCA. America: Painting A Nation will include works by Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe and Dennis Hopper (among many others) while War Is Over! (If You Want It): Yoko Ono involves Ono's older pieces placed alongside participation works developed specifically for Sydney. One work, Wish Tree For Sydney (1996/2013), invites viewers to write a private wish and tie it to a branch of a native Australian tree installed on the MCA's Sculpture Terrace. The wishes are collected by Ono and stored with others in the Peace Tower in Reykjavik. In a short statement about the exhibition, Ono says, “think peace, act peace, spread peace Sydney. I love you”. Both exhibitions open in November this year.
America: Painting A Nation opens 8 November, AGNSW
War Is Over! (If You Want It): Yoko Ono opens Friday 15 November, MCA
