Secret art exposes artists’ hidden lives

Would you display art prompted by an affair if you didn't want your spouse to find out? 24 Australian photographers have been tempted by the cover of anonymity.
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Artists frequently need to be prepared to put their lives on public display, but a new exhibition has prompted them to share the secrets they had not planned on showing.

Curator Paul McDonald has invited 24 photographers to share their innermost secrets anonymously, accompanied only by an explanatory text. Artists have responded with confessions from adultery to elder abuse, experiences of shame and repression, hidden love and even government secrets.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina