Feature Artist
Every year, an established South Australian artist is celebrated as the SALA Feature Artist.
This artist’s work features on the SALA poster and printed program, and will be exhibited during the SALA Festival.
Read on for more about the 2026 SALA Feature Artist, Troy-Anthony Baylis.
Troy-Anthony Baylis
Born in Sydney in 1976, Troy-Anthony Baylis is a painter, textile artist, installation artist and performance artist.
A descendant of the Jawoyn people from the Northern Territory and of Irish ancestry, Baylis’ multi-faceted artistic practice is founded in the process of ‘queering’ and unsettling ‘traditional’ ways of representing Aboriginality.
Troy-Anthony has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, having installed, exhibited and performed across New Zealand, the Philippines, Iceland, Spain, and Germany.
His work has been subject of 24 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, performances, and publications since 1993. Baylis’ work was profiled in The National 2019: new Australian art at Carriageworks, Sydney. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include Nomenclatures (Art Gallery of South Australia, 2020-2021) and I Wanna Be Adorned (QUT Art Museum, 2023).
He has upcoming projects in Adelaide, Brisbane, and Wollongong, and is currently represented by Jan Manton Gallery, Brisbane. He has lived and worked in Adelaide for the past 25 years.
More about Troy-Anthony Baylis
@btroyanthony
Interview
INTERVIEW
Celebrating the work
Artwork by Troy-Anthony Baylis will feature on the Official SALA Festival Poster and on the cover of the 2026 SALA Festival Program.
Troy-Anthony Baylis will also be the subject of a high quality book about his practice, with contributions from local writers Tikari Rigney and Sasha Grbich. This book will be produced by Wakefield Press and is an outcome of the SA Living Artist Publication opportunity, supported by Create SA.
Where to see the artwork
Stay tuned for where you can find the Feature Artist’s work on display during the Festival.
In the meantime, you can find Troy-Anthony’s work on display at Wollongong Art Gallery:
Wollongong Art Gallery
Tell Them Their Dreaming
PAST Feature artists
Past SALA feature artists include: Sue Kneebone (2025), Julia Robinson (2024), Helen Fuller, (2023), Mark Valenzuela (2022), Roy Ananda (2021), Kirsten Coelho (2020), Louise Haselton (2019), Clare Belfrage (2018), Christopher Orchard (2017), Catherine Truman (2016), Giles Bettison (2015), Nicholas Folland (2014) and many more. Discover more by exploring our Feature Artist Archive.
The selection of this artist is tied to the outcome of the South Australian Living Artist Publication – the successful recipient becomes the SALA Feature Artist. The publication is produced by Wakefield Press and is intended to profile the work of an established South Australian visual artist with a track record of achievement in their area of practice. Applications for this opportunity are facilitated by Create SA.
Banner Image: SALA Festival Finissage at the The Lab, 2024. Photo by Sam Roberts
