Newcastle Art Gallery Has Unveiled a Major Multiverse of Superheroes, Sea Creatures and Torres Strait Stories
The newly expanded regional gallery has unveiled three major new exhibitions, including the largest-ever survey of celebrated Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson's work.
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After reopening earlier this year following a landmark expansion, Newcastle Art Gallery is quickly re-establishing itself as one of the country's most compelling regional cultural destinations. The newly reimagined institution — now the largest public art gallery in NSW outside Sydney — has just unveiled three major new exhibitions, led by the largest-ever survey of celebrated Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson.
Running until Sunday, August 30, Multiverse is a sprawling exhibition that brings together more than a decade of Robinson's work across large-scale prints, sculpture and immersive installation, including new and rarely seen works. If the title sounds expansive, the works themselves are even more so. Across the exhibition, superheroes, sea creatures, mythology, pop culture and ancestral stories collide in richly detailed worlds that blend Torres Strait Islander iconography with Robinson's bold contemporary visual language.
Portrait of Brian Robinson. Featured: 'Vine clad' (detail), 2024/2026 © the artist. Photo: Matt Carbone
Among the highlights is the NSW premiere of Robinson's first-ever immersive installation 'Zugubal: The winds and the tides set the pace', alongside a series of newly commissioned vinyl cut prints inspired by objects from the University of Newcastle collection that sit somewhere between magic and science.
The broader lineup further reinforces the gallery's growing ambition. Visitors can also catch Mouth Mnemonica, the first institutional solo exhibition by Tiyan Baker, which takes the form of a multichannel video work exploring language as a vessel for intergenerational knowledge and cultural exchange, as well as The Mordant Family Gift, a major presentation of 25 works donated by philanthropists Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM.
Installation view, 'The Mordant Family Gift: Newcastle Art Gallery Collection', 2026, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia. © the artists and their estates. Photo: Matt Carbone
It's the kind of ambitious programming the expansion — which more than doubled the footprint of the original gallery — was specifically designed to accommodate, adding 13 galleries and 1600 square metres of exhibition space to the city's cultural offering. All of it adds further weight to Newcastle's growing reputation as an easy-access arts-and-culture destination. Alongside the ticketed exhibitions, visitors can also explore works from the gallery's $145-million collection, with much of the space remaining free to enter year-round.
Beyond the gallery, the coastal city offers the kind of weekend mix that's increasingly hard to resist: a thriving hospitality scene, excellent beaches and a steadily growing calendar of cultural happenings. The gallery's monthly late-night Fridays — complete with DJs and live performances — only strengthen the case for making a proper weekend of it.
Installation view, Tiyan Baker: Mouth Mnemonica, 2026, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia. © the artist. Photo: Matt Carbone
Audiences are already responding. Since reopening in February, the gallery has welcomed more than 80,000 visitors, surpassing its previous annual visitation record in just a few months. And with major upcoming exhibitions from globally recognised Newcastle-based artist Angela Tiatia and painter Anh Do still to come later this year, Newcastle's cultural momentum doesn't look set to slow down anytime soon.
Installation view, Brian Robinson: Multiverse, 2026, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia. © the artist. Photo: Matt Carbone
Multiverse by Brian Robinson is on show at Newcastle Art Gallery until Sunday, August 30. For more information and to plan your visit, head to the Newcastle Art Gallery website.
Top image: Installation view, The Mordant Family Gift: Newcastle Art Gallery Collection, 2026, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia. © the artists and their estates. Photo: Matt Carbone.