Dharug artist Billy Bain charts journey of cultural return

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is presenting Billy Bain: By the River, a new solo exhibition by Dharug multidisciplinary artist Billy Bain, as part of the Contemporary Projects series – a vital platform for Australian artists displaying new bodies of work.

By the River brings together surf culture, coastal iconographies and Indigenous storytelling to explore time and humanity’s relationship to the waterways of Sydney, particularly the Dyarubbin/Hawkesbury River, which runs through the artist’s ancestral homeland.

For Bain, these sites are neither neutral nor empty but layered with histories, cultural presence and continuing significance.

Based in Sydney, Bain is known for his personalised figurative sculptures of Aboriginal people, infused with a grunge aesthetic and shaped by surf culture.

Reflection of journey

Raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches on Garigal land – just down the river from his home Country – he reflects on his ongoing journey of reconnection with Dharug culture, land and waterways, and the history of his Boorooberongal clan.

Across a new body of work spanning sculpture and painting, the exhibition considers how identity is shaped through movement between places – from ocean to river, from past to present.

“By the River is a powerful meditation on connection to Country, revealing the deep cultural currents that flow through our waterways,” Art Gallery of New South Wales Director Maud Page said.

“Our Contemporary Projects series is an exciting opportunity for artists to present new, ambitious works in a state art museum context. We’re thrilled to show Billy Bain’s latest suite of artworks, which marks a bold and thoughtful expansion of his practice.”

By the River includes a new suite of five paintings that adopt a more solemn and atmospheric painterly approach, signalling a shift in tone and emotional depth for Bain.

These works trace the artist’s journey from saltwater to freshwater and can be read from left to right as a day-long pilgrimage. The journey begins at sunrise on Avalon Beach with Betungi (oyster) 2026 and concludes at dusk, upstream along the Dyarubbin/Hawkesbury River with Gadjal (smoke) 2026.

The largest work, Dyarubbin (the river) 2026, is a self-portrait of the artist on his Country, expressing a worldview in which everything, self, land and water, is fundamentally interconnected.

Each painting is housed in a recycled timber frame constructed by carpenter Will Badger, a friend of the artist. Badger routed shapes into the frames to hold ceramic tiles that Bain crafted, capturing the sights and sounds that the artist encountered on his journey to the river.

A great sense of privilege and responsibility

“By the River is an exhibition about connection – between people, place, family and water,” Bain said.

“Drawing on Dharug stories and my own experiences growing up in Sydney, the works reflect on movement, resilience and belonging, and the enduring relationships that connect communities across Country.

“Dharug culture is inseparable from the history and identity of this city, and I feel a great sense of both privilege and responsibility in contributing to its recognition through my art.”

Visitors to Art After Hours during NAIDOC Week can hear from the artist on July 8 at 5.30pm when he joins exhibition curator and Senior Curator of First Nations art Erin Vink in conversation about his exhibition and his practice.

• Billy Bain: By the River is open at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the Contemporary Projects Gallery in Naala Badu until Sunday 8 November 2026. Entry is free.