New Zealand-born curator and longtime artistic director of Gertrude Contemporary Mark Feary has been handed the reins of the 2028 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art.

The Art Gallery of Australia says the selection panel – which included artist and curator Hetti Perkins, Adelaide Festival artistic director Matthew Lutton, Art Gallery of South Australia Director Jason Smith, Art Gallery of South Australia curator and 2020 Adelaide Biennial artistic director Leigh Robb, and Biennial Ambassadors Committee Chair Daniela Valmorbida – was unanimous in selecting Feary to follow 2026 curator Ellie Buttrose, whose exhibition Yield Strength closed in June.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark Feary as curator of the 2028 Adelaide Biennial, whose extensive experience and thoughtful curatorial approach will undoubtedly shape an ambitious and compelling exhibition,” Smith said of the appointment.

“The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art has been at the forefront of contemporary Australian art for 36 years, as the longest running survey of its kind. It has continuously built audiences, fostered critical engagement nationally and internationally, and elevated the work and reputations of contemporary Australian artists.”

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A veteran of Australia’s contemporary arts scene, Feary has spent the past decade leading the artistic program at Gertrude Contemporary and Gertrude Glasshouse, encompassing over 150 exhibitions including its 40^th anniversary celebrations in 2025.

Before joining Gertrude Contemporary in 2016 Feary has worked at the Australian Centre for Photography, Buxton International, the Centre for Contemporary Photography, and West Space.

Feary said he was honoured to take up the position.

“The Adelaide Biennial has been a series of defining cornerstones for me as a curator, since first visiting Charlotte Day and Sarah Tutton’s Before and After Science in 2010, with each edition defining a particular moment in and view of Australian culture, and each etched into the nation’s art history,” he said in a statement.

Feary says his plans for the 2028 biennial include “acknowledging problematic histories, and an increasingly uncertain and turbulent present, but motivated by the persistence of optimism”.

Buttrose’s 2026 program, presented as part of this year’s Adelaide Festival, featured work from 24 artists including Archie Moore – with whom she collaborated on the Golden Lion-winning Venice Biennale work Kith and Kin – and Prudence Flint, Nathan Beard, Brian Fuata, Kirtika Kain, and South Australia-based artists Josina Pumani, Emmaline Zanelli and Jennifer Mathews.

The 2028 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art will run from March 3 – June 4 2028.