'Yield strength', an engineering term denoting the extent of force that can be placed on a material before it distorts irreversibly, seems to be an apt metaphor for understanding the 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, given the broad return to materials utilised in recent contemporary art and in what, at times, feels like a place of no return on the environmental and political fronts.

The exhibition and catalogue reveal how materials, selfhood and society are tested - and transformed - under pressure. Twenty-four artists push their mediums to build visual complexity, or contort them to convey the curious side of existence. Remaining attentive to aesthetic details and receptive to the intricacies of life.