The NGV has hosted some pretty epic exhibitions over the last few years — Ai Weiei and Andy Warhol, Hokusai and Van Gogh are just a few— but this might be its most ambitious exhibition yet. Descending on the gallery from today — Friday, December 15 — and then every three years after that, the NGV Triennial presents a smorgasbord of art and design, plucked from all corners of the globe and representing established artists, emerging talent, and plenty else in between.
And the first one is nothing short of grand. The free exhibition will take over all four levels of the gallery until April 2018 and host a slew of newly commissioned works by over 60 artists and designers. But where it's really upping the ante is in the audience experience, with visitors invited to present their own ideas through cross-platform content, and the exhibition's participatory works designed to engage like never before.
Legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, best known for her obsessive patterning and vibrant representations of the infinite, will invite glimpses into the artist's mind with a work titled Flower obsession. Created especially for the NGV Triennial, the interactive exhibition will have visitors unleashing some creativity of their own, as they help plaster a furnished space with an array of colourful flower stickers and three-dimensional blooms. Another highlight is an epic display of 100 oversized human skulls created by Australian artist Ron Mueck, and you'll want to step inside teamLab's immersive mirrored room that reacts to visitors' movements.
Kusuma joins other international names like Germany's Timo Nasseri and Canada's Sascha Braunig, alongside an Aussie billing that includes the likes of Ben Quilty, Louisa Bufardeci, and Tom Crago. There'll be an installation from Chinese haute couture fashion guru Guo Pei, designer of Rihanna's canary-yellow Met Ball gown, and chemist and odour theorist Sissel Tolaas will create the 'scent of Melbourne' exclusively for the Triennial. And Alexandra Kehayoglou will be creating one of her monumentally-sized, lushly illustrated carpets, spanning over eight metres long.
The NGV Triennial will be on display at the National Gallery of Victoria from December 15, 2017 till April 15, 2018. For more info, visit ngv.com.au.