Bundanon has unveiled Man on Fire: Visions of Nebuchadnezzar, its landmark Winter 2026 exhibition bringing Arthur Boyd‘s iconic Nebuchadnezzar series into dialogue with a major new commission by one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Shaun Gladwell.
Rachel Kent, CEO, Bundanon said: “We are proud to present ‘Man on Fire: Visions of Nebuchadnezzar’ as part of our 2026 exhibition program. Arthur Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzar works are among the most morally searching in the Australian canon, and they continue to resonate decades after they were made. Shaun Gladwell’s new commission, created here in the Shoalhaven, brings Boyd’s ancient story of hubris, exile and transformation into urgent contemporary relief. This exhibition sees two great Australian artists in conversation across time, right here at Bundanon.”
Curated by Sophie O’Brien and on view in the Art Museum until 11 October 2026, the exhibition pairs Boyd’s celebrated paintings with an ambitious new body of work by Gladwell, comprising a major film commission, performance, photographs and works on paper.
Boyd‘s Nebuchadnezzar series depicts the Old Testament story of a powerful king, exiled by God for his unchecked pride and condemned to live as an animal in the wilderness for seven years. Produced largely in the UK during the 1960s, the works channelled Boyd’s fierce pacifism and protest against the Vietnam War into a sustained meditation on ego, power and the fragility of the human condition. The exhibition features major paintings, ink drawings and etchings from the Bundanon Collection, alongside key loans from the National Gallery of Australia and generous private lenders.
With familial roots in the Shoalhaven and a longstanding interest in Boyd’s practice, Gladwell spent substantial time in residence at Bundanon developing his responsive work. His film commission, Nebuchadnezzar Cycle, takes the titles of Boyd’s paintings as departure points, employing them as a script for action and choreography. Shot across the South Coast landscape, the work follows a solitary figure, stumbling alight and flailing into Bangli (the Shoalhaven River), moving along the riverbank, crawling through caves and running through bushland, before finally reaching Djerrabalay (Shoalhaven Heads) where the river meets the ocean. Like Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzar series, the film follows a loose arc that is never fully resolved, with a figure moving through perpetual stages of transformation, with no end in sight. Gladwell’s film is accompanied by a series of photographs and aqua-tinted drypoint etchings.
Gladwell will also present Nebuchadnezzar Fall Sequence, a filmed solo performance staged within the gallery. Alone in the space, he clings to BMX handlebars for as long as his strength allows before finally falling. The traces of this action remain as a sculptural installation. Drawing on the myths of Nebuchadnezzar, Sisyphus and Icarus, the work distils Boyd’s interpretation of the biblical parable into a meditation on the struggle to retain power and control, where gravity delivers the inevitable fall, and letting go becomes an act of release and transformation.
These conversations across time between the works of Boyd and Gladwell form a meditation on unbounded ego and the fragility of the human condition. Man on Fire stages a timely and resonant catharsis, reflecting on the ways in which masculine power is performed, on human relationships to the natural environment, and on the dark shadows of conflict and empire-building. Man on Fire also offers hope, proposing that through the embrace of a shared vulnerability, there is potential for change.
Sophie O’Brien, Exhibition Curator, Bundanon said: “The Nebuchadnezzar story of a powerful man fallen from grace was the allegory through which Arthur Boyd could articulate ideas of masculinity and inheritance, as well as formulate a strong protest against the Vietnam War. Focusing on a moment of transformation in the paintings, Boyd presents us with a male figure at mental and physical breaking point, becoming as one with the animals and trees. A metaphor for self-realisation, these works present Boyd’s ethical, deeply humanist position: that all living things are equal and that all humans have the potential for failure or despair. From a current perspective, Shaun Gladwell shares these convictions yet brings them into the present moment. Embodying the parable literally, the younger artist employs his own body as material for artmaking, responding directly to the natural environment that Boyd had worked so hard to preserve.”
Accompanying the exhibition is a compilation of archival video footage reflecting Boyd’s numerous projects during the 1960s and his creative influence nationally and internationally. Alongside Sidney Nolan and Brett Whiteley, Boyd’s presence spurred a wave of artists to relocate to the United Kingdom, impacting global perceptions of Australian art and landscape.
Presented concurrently in the Boyd Collection Gallery, a focused selection of works from the Bundanon Collection and the National Gallery of Australia traces the earliest roots of Boyd’s artistic vision. Before the mythic allegories that would define his mature practice, Boyd spent his formative years (1936-1939) on the Mornington Peninsula with his artist grandfather, Arthur Merric Boyd senior, a respected landscape painter associated with the Heidelberg School. These works illuminate his first explorations of light, texture and the natural world. A selection of works are on long term loan from the National Gallery of Australia with support from the Australian Government as part of Sharing the National Collection.
Principal Exhibition Patron: Philip Bacon AO
Principal Loan Partner: National Gallery of Australia
With thanks to the Charles Nodrum Family Collection and our private lenders
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IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE
MEDIA CONTACTS
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ABOUT BUNDANON
Bundanon acknowledges the people of the Dharawal and Dhurga language groups as the traditional owners of the land within our boundaries, and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.
Established in 1993, Bundanon was gifted to the Australian people by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, representing one of the most significant acts of philanthropy in the history of the arts in Australia. Bundanon is located on 1,000 hectares of bush and parkland overlooking the Shoalhaven River, on the South Coast of New South Wales, two and a half hours from Sydney.
Bundanon’s mission is to operate the property as a centre for the creative arts and education, for scientific research and a place to explore landscape and engage with First Nations history and culture.
In 2022, Bundanon opened its purpose-built Art Museum, Bridge for Creative Learning and wider infrastructure to the public, designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA).
The Art Museum presents three major exhibition seasons each year, encompassing a diverse array of contemporary practices across a range of disciplines, contextualised by the significant historical legacy of Bundanon’s Art Collection. The exhibitions are presented alongside expansive live programs, accommodation and dining experiences.
Bundanon’s live programs reflect its engagement across artforms, encompassing artist talks and workshops, performances, dance, concerts and festival events. Highlights include the Boyd Music Series in partnership with Sydney Opera House, celebrating Australian and international chamber music against the unique backdrop of the Bundanon landscape.
Bundanon’s residency program and its learning programs, are an investment in Australia’s future. The Learning program is inclusive and designed for all ages, and welcomes over 5,000 school students for day or overnight visits each year.
Bundanon’s Artists in Residence program is the largest program of its kind in Australia and spans a 30-year history. Every year, more than 300 artists and researchers from across artistic disciplines are in residence, embracing the visual and performing arts, literature, science, dance, music and environmental research. This provides important career opportunities for artists and researchers to develop their work in an inspiring environment.
Bundanon is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development Communications, Sport and the Arts.
For more information visit bundanon.com.au
ABOUT ARTHUR BOYD
Arthur Boyd (b.1920 – d.1999) was one of the most celebrated Australian artists of the twentieth century. He worked predominantly as a painter, potter and printmaker, but also collaborated with many artists across diverse media. He is known for his depictions of myth and religious narrative, often set within the Australian bush, as well as the humanitarian themes that he explored throughout his life. Boyd’s early years were spent in Victoria, and he was conscripted into the army from 1941 to 1944. Throughout the 1960s, he worked in London, where he undertook major design commissions for the ballet and the opera, before returning to Australia in 1971. The period from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s represents a time when Boyd drew heavily on European myths and folklore, borrowing freely from Bible stories, parables and fairytales. Boyd melded universal allegorical themes with personal imagery derived from his own experience to create a symbolic language. This period reflects Boyd’s interest in Expressionism and its power to convey darker realities. Like his contemporaries, he drew on the Australian landscape as a stage for the investigation of universal themes: love, vanity, racism and poverty. He stated that he wanted to ‘feel that through my work there is a possibility of making a contribution to a social progression or enlightenment.
ABOUT SHAUN GLADWELL
Shaun Gladwell (b.1972) uses disciplines of human movement to investigate function and meaning within urban, natural, and extended reality environments. He works across a range of media, from painting and photography to installation and performance, but he is best known for his video works dealing with the human body in motion. His works are shot in natural and urban environments and explore the relationship between landscapes and people. Whether focusing on skateboarding, surfing, or dancers, Gladwell’s work centres the body of the performer in relation to the natural or built environment around them. In every medium available to him, Gladwell investigates the full range of human experience, from the creative power of play to the complexities of geopolitical conflict. Throughout his career to date, the artist asks, ‘what is it to function within a collective social and political corpus?’
