Melbourne's NGV Has Unveiled Its Mind-Bending New Escher x Nendo Exhibition

The blockbuster 'Between Two Worlds' exhibition launches this weekend.
Lauren Vadnjal
November 30, 2018

The National Gallery of Victoria has today revealed its summer centrepiece: a bold new world premiere exhibition pairing the work of Dutch artist M.C. Escher and Japanese design studio Nendo.

Much like the NGV's 2016's Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei show, Between Two Worlds celebrates two very different creators, bringing them together in an assembly of immersive art and design. More than 150 of Escher's prints and drawings created between 1916 to 1969 have made their way to Melbourne from the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague for the artist's first ever major exhibition in Australia. Optical illusion is what he's best known for — his intricate pieces use patterns and design to warp space and perception. You'll need to take second, third and fourth looks at pieces like Day and night and Drawing hands.

To really mess with your mind, Nendo — led by designer Oki Sato — has created an immersive gallery space that's just as trippy. The studio has taken inspiration from Escher to manipulate geometry and space to warp perception, giving you an imagined sense of what it would be like to enter Escher's mind boggling world. Expect lots of mirrors, shrinking corridors and projections that will mess with your brain (in a good way).

The exhibition will officially open tomorrow with the gallery's exclusive black tie NGV Gala. Then it opens to the public on Sunday, December 2 and will run until April 2019 alongside a public program of talks, workshops and the NGV's Friday night parties.

Escher x Nendo: Between Two Worlds will run from December 2 until April 2019 at NGV International. 

Images: Eugene Hyland and Sean Fennessy.

Published on November 30, 2018 by Lauren Vadnjal
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