Great to have a new contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, and interesting that it's from a private collection (I wonder how much, and what kind of, public/government support it's had in being established).
This inaugural exhibition includes an impressive array of contemporary Australian artists, some familiar and others new to me; the first category included Patricia Piccinini, Pat Brassington, Ricky Swallow, Mikala Dwyer, while the ones I liked most from the second were:
Also, multiple pieces by Diena Georgetti (my favourite is the painting in the middle, "I don't think, I don't feel because I know nothing's real" (2006)), with their multiple references to 20th century art - among others, Malevich, Kandinsky, the Futurists, even Mondrian? - and design seeming, to me, to reclaim the former a bit from the latter while integrating them both.
And Peter Booth, whose name I didn't recognise but whose style I did. Powerful stuff.
This inaugural exhibition includes an impressive array of contemporary Australian artists, some familiar and others new to me; the first category included Patricia Piccinini, Pat Brassington, Ricky Swallow, Mikala Dwyer, while the ones I liked most from the second were:
Nadine Christensen - "Prospector" (2007) - very mysterious!
Shaun Gladwell - "Maximus swept out to sea (Wattamolla)" (2012-13) - actually I'm pretty sure I've seen his stuff before (video work), but none of it had really stuck till this one
James Morrison - "Freeman Dyson" (2008) - this is only one of its five panels, and it really needs to be seen as a whole for the full, teeming effect
Francis Upritchard - "Straight in front" (2009) - I liked all of Upritchard's stuff, both the models and the prints, all depicting these kinds of comic-poignant figures
Also, multiple pieces by Diena Georgetti (my favourite is the painting in the middle, "I don't think, I don't feel because I know nothing's real" (2006)), with their multiple references to 20th century art - among others, Malevich, Kandinsky, the Futurists, even Mondrian? - and design seeming, to me, to reclaim the former a bit from the latter while integrating them both.
And Peter Booth, whose name I didn't recognise but whose style I did. Powerful stuff.
