Near at Hand

Now in its sixth edition at the Art Gallery, the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial has become one of the country’s principal curated exhibitions of contemporary drawing. While each edition has its own theme, the series is unified by an ongoing exploration of the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of drawing – why does this ancient art form endure, and how do today’s artists engage with it?

Titled Near at Hand, the 2026 Biennial highlights the directness and simplicity of drawing and considers how these qualities make it an intimate creative conduit. The exhibition brings together 11 artists from around the country who make very different drawings, from detailed interpretations of the visible world to images scooped from the depths of the imagination. Despite this range, their works share a sense of intimacy. They harness what is near at hand, but sometimes invisible or overlooked – a glimpse, a feeling, a memory caught on a wing – and bring it into graphic and expressive clarity through the practice of drawing.

It is the often informal and ‘low stakes’ character of drawing that accommodates such close attention to the particular and the everyday. There is also the nearness of drawing to the hand itself – the proximity of the active hand to the drawing surface, which transmits the artist’s inimitable touch with extraordinary precision. This is why the Swiss modernist Paul Klee described his drawn line as his ‘most personal possession’.