Brett Whiteley Studio Reopens in Sydney Following Extensive Upgrades

The former home and studio of Australian artist Brett Whiteley (1939–1992) has officially reopened to the public following a two-year hiatus for extensive building work. Located in Sydney’s Surry Hills, the three-storey former warehouse spans a space where Whiteley lived from 1987, when his marriage disintegrated, until 1992, the year he died of an opiate overdose in a motel room in Thirroul, north of Wollongong. The studio, sold to the NSW Government by the Whiteleys’ late daughter Arkie, has been managed as a museum by the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1995, offering visitors an intimate look at the artist’s environment left just as he kept it down to his art supplies and a half-finished painting of Sydney Harbour.

Architectural Upgrades and the New Wave-Shaped Roof Extension

The recent closure, which commenced in June 2024, allowed local architecture practice Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG) to carry out vital preservation work, including replacing a leaky roof and installing climate-controlled air-conditioning to make the building safer and more accessible. To protect the collection while maintaining the building’s character, the firm designed a distinctive new roof and facade extension. Constructed from hand-crimped sheets of coated aluminium and stainless steel mesh, the structure encases acoustically treated plant and mechanical equipment required for long-term climate management and the care of the collection.

Project director Peter Tonkin explained the architectural vision behind the structure, noting that the team wanted it to look weightless as much as possible: floating, dematerialised, ethereal so that it is not squashing this poor little 1905 factory. The fact that it looks like Brett’s waves [in his drawing The divided unity (1973)]; it felt like the right solution, Tonkin said. Additional renovations funded by the New South Wales government in association with the Art Gallery NSW, the Brett Whiteley Foundation, and Tim Fairfax AC and Gina Fairfax AC include a new library and archive, an elevator, a new staircase, and accessible amenities designed to enable the studio to welcome broader and more diverse audiences.

Coming Home Exhibition and Key Artworks on Display

The reopening coincides with a new exhibition titled Coming Home, which showcases 80 works from a key era of the artist’s career alongside personal items such as a 1985 letter from musician Paul Kelly. Among the collection is the 1976 painting Alchemy. Spanning 16 metres wide across 18 wood panels, the work features surreal, eclectic and mind-boggling imagery including an exploding sun on the far left, along with found objects like animal bones, dentures, and a taxidermied bird. Studio curator Nick Yelverton recalled feeling “dumbstruck” upon first seeing the ginormous piece.

“I’d never seen anything quite like it in my life,” Nick Yelverton, curator of Brett Whiteley Studio

Visitors can also view The green mountain, Fiji, painted in 1969 during Whiteley’s five-month stay in a hut in the village of Navutulevu after living in New York at the Hotel Chelsea where he befriended musicians Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan and joined the Vietnam War protest movement. The painting depicts a bird leaving its nest against an idyllic backdrop of rolling green mountains, palm trees and verdant vegetation, and was once owned by Nobel Prize-winning Australian author Patrick White before being gifted to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Preserving a Living Place of Creativity

While the building meets contemporary museum standards, organizers have kept Whiteley’s art supplies and half-finished paintings intact to preserve his working process. Wendy Whiteley, the artist’s former wife and muse, praised the thoughtful approach to the building’s overhaul.

‘The studio carries Brett’s presence in every room. I’m grateful that it has been cared for so thoughtfully and not preserved as a museum relic, but as a living place of creativity that continues to inspire artists and visitors,’ Wendy Whiteley said.

Wendy Whiteley

The reopening celebrations began on 25 July 2026, welcoming the public back to the Surry Hills space featuring the exhibition Brett Whiteley: Coming Home alongside various opening weekend activities, where music from Whiteley’s 600-album-strong record collection is often playing on his old turntable.