Desmond Lazaro’s new painting, made for Avatar: Forms of Vishnu at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, commands the cover of Art Guide’s July/August issue. Lazaro told writer Jasmeet Kaur Sahi that he hopes his work might prompt viewers to reflect on different mythologies and modes of understanding.

Exhibitions can provide a framework for contemplation, whether that be through an individual artist grappling with their chosen medium, or a curator digging into an area of fascination. This issue of our magazine traverses the full scope of such possibilities, from Avatar, which brings together 200 artworks spanning 1500 years and half the globe, to a studio where an artist’s latest body of work is developing from a place of introspection.

This latter state has emerged as a distinct thread snaking through this issue: from Ida Sophia’s performance focusing on acts of silence, distance and forgiveness; to Elizabeth Day’s lifetime of engagement with histories of migration and punishment; to the first show in ACCA’s series Art and Emotion, which takes a multifaceted look at loneliness.

Meanwhile, Dee Jefferson introduces us to three exhibitions taking place across Australasia which highlight the impactful foray of contemporary Chinese art into our galleries over recent decades. And in The Long View essay, Sarah Ayoub reimagines the relationship between art and care.

This and more in the July/August 2026 print edition of Art Guide Australia. Subscribe today.