Six Essential Melbourne Art Exhibitions to See in February
Cool down over ocean photography, see some Georgia O'Keeffe works at Heide or discover a new Southeast Asian artist.
Six Essential Melbourne Art Exhibitions to See in February
Cool down over ocean photography, see some Georgia O'Keeffe works at Heide or discover a new Southeast Asian artist.
Sexy pop-inspired sculpture. Sub-sea level photography. Work by the mother of American Modernism. Whether you're looking to escape the heat or simply looking for something to look at, Melbourne's galleries have something to make them open wide. Swing by Spenceroni's first ever solo show after work one night or block out a day to head to Heide to see the work of Georgia O'Keeffe before the exhibition finishes up — and if you're not into those, one of the other shows on this list should pique your interest.
Top image: Who's Afraid of Colour at NGV Australia, photographed by Wayne Taylor.
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Aussie artist and doughnut inspiration Spenceroni is back, baby, and more awe-inspiring than ever with his new solo show at No Vacancy Gallery. Spenceroni, or Spencer Harrison as his birth certificate can attest, is still working in his signature style — pop colours, cold, geometric shapes and perfectly balanced compositions — but his new works are a bit, shall we say, sexier.
Starting on Tuesday, January 31, Intimate Encounters looks set to get more intimate than the Australian artist has before, exploring the human form and the lover’s gaze alongside his pop aesthetic. For the new show, he’s branched out into the realm of sculptures; his Instagram hints at sculptural pieces that bring his prints and patterns into the third dimension.
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Georgia O’Keeffe, the artist often described as the mother of American Modernism, along with her Australian contemporaries Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington Smith, will be the subject of a four-month exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Running through to mid-February at the gallery in Bulleen, O’Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism has been curated by the team at Heide along with Santa Fe’s Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the Queensland Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and will feature more than 30 works by each of the three women created across the length of their respective careers. In doing so, it will showcase both the distinctive styles developed by the artists, as well as the similarities in their subject matter, technique and the ways in which they viewed the world.
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If you’re feeling in the need for a refreshing, summer-friendly art experience, head along to the Monash Art Gallery for a squiz at their new exhibition, Life Aquatic. Taking the fact that a whole lot of a) the earth, and b) our bodies are made up of water as a starting point, the exhibition will explore the omnipotence of water through photography as a meeting of science and art.
Showcasing a number of underwater landscapes from three different photographers — Narelle Autio, Ruth Maddison and Catherine Nelson — Life Aquatic will remind you that there is life below sea level — and lots of it. Check out the photos, then go for a wander in the Underwater Garden installation at the gallery by Poppies For Grace.
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Some of Southeast Asia’s most acclaimed performance artists will be the subject of a new exhibition at the Arts Centre Melbourne. Running from February 11 through to May 21 as part of the inaugural Asia TOPA , Political Acts: Pioneers of Performance Art in Southeast Asia will showcase the work of preeminent artists from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and beyond.
Featuring a mix of photographs, installations and films, the art in Political Acts acknowledges the cultural tradition of performance within the region. It also explores a wide range of social, political and environmental issues facing both Southeast Asia and the world at-large, from ethnic identity to state-sponsored violence. The free exhibition can be found in Gallery One at the Arts Centre and is open daily.
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Take an intimate walk alongside the mind and brushstrokes of David Hockney, who has been touted as one of the world’s most influential living artists. David Hockney: Current has been curated by the National Gallery of Victoria in collaboration with Hockney and his studio. The exhibition features over 700 works and amalgamates a variety of different mediums, including painting, digital drawings, photography and video.
Hockney has been known to work on iPhones and iPads as well as canvas, making him an incredibly intriguing and versatile artist. The exhibition will also display his largest artwork, Bigger Trees Near Water, which is comprised of 50 oil on canvas panels. If the treat of an expansive gallery exhibition doesn’t excite you, rest assured there’s still more on offer — the NGV will also be holding a range of programs that delve into the themes of the works and Hockney’s artistic career throughout the duration of the exhibition, which runs from November until March 2017.
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The National Gallery of Victoria is known for bringing the best and most interesting art to Melbourne, but their latest exhibition is truly unprecedented. As part of Who’s Afraid of Colour?, the gallery has compiled an extensive collection of extraordinary pieces created by Indigenous Australian women — 200 contemporary works by 118 talented ladies, in fact.
Decking the walls of NGV’s Ian Potter Centre until April 17, the creative showcase takes over six gallery spaces. Among the highlights are photographs by Melbourne-based artists Destiny Deacon and Bindi Cole Chocka, who use photography and digital media to explore and challenge notions about and around Aboriginality. Mixed media efforts by interdisciplinary artist Julie Gough, and paintings by renowned Gija artist Queenie McKenzie also feature.
Diversity, daring, jumping across disciplines, discarding expectations: it’s all on display here. The entire exhibition ranges from traditional to experimental, existing to new, and includes painting, sculpture, drawing, weaving, ceramics, glass, video, photography, jewellery, textiles, design and installation.
