Heide Museum of Modern Art has unveiled two exhibitions: a major thematic retrospective of renowned Australian modernist Sidney Nolan and a new moving image work by Dean Cross in response to Nolan titled Sometimes I Miss The Applause.

Dean Cross’s work features the artist himself, and by association First Nations perspectives into the mythologies that Nolan set out to re-examine. The exhibitions were originally due to coincide with the museum’s 40th anniversary in late 2021.

Heide Senior Curator Melissa Keys said, “This new commission continues his personal fascination with Sidney Nolan’s artistic practice, legacy and life. Sometimes I Miss The Applause explores Heide simultaneously as a site of Australian modernity and millennia of First Nations cultural practice and continuing history. The work confronts and explores the legacy of modernism, shifting perspective from dominant cultural and social histories, offering audiences a timely and fresh celebration, critique and rebalancing take on Nolan’s contribution as a pivotal figure in visual culture and national identity.”