Since late November, I have been bombarded with ads non-stop about TarraWarra Museum of Art's (TWMA) recent exhibition The City Wakes, The City Sleeps. This exhibition draws from TWMA's impressive collection to convey the social, cultural and economic themes surrounding the city. As I was unable to escape such advertisements (good job to the marketing... Continue Reading →

In various cultural institutions, there is a greater focus on representing women artists in exhibitions. Recent efforts can be seen with NGV (Women Photographers 1900-1975: A Legacy of Light), Bendigo Art Gallery (Frida Kahlo: In her own image) and even as remotely as Gippsland Art Gallery (Annemieke Mein: A Life's Work - A Retrospective). Whitehorse... Continue Reading →

I've often seen a meme circulating on the internet divided in two panels. On the top, Van Gogh's Starry Night and Leonard Da Vinci's Mona Lisa with the caption "Without a single degree, they created art that inspired generations". This is contrasted by the bottom panel with Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian and an installation of blank... Continue Reading →

When visiting NGV Australia at the Ian Potter Centre, I was struck by the volume and variety of art spanning from Indigenous art and pastoral landscapes to modernism and postmodernism. Nationally-recognised names like Sidney Nolan from the Heide circle and Margaret Preston are all represented. It is impressive that the NGV house many iconic works... Continue Reading →

Disclaimer: Sexual themes feature in this exhibition and images are included. Not for readers under 18 years of age. As an aspiring curator and art writer, it is important to try and keep an open mind. Rather than visiting one type of exhibition, one should visit as many different institutions and galleries as possible, so... Continue Reading →

From seeing these exhibitions, all these conceptual works of art are at odds with the heritage site of Bundoora Homestead. If viewed under the lens of institutional critique, the motivations behind these do make sense: All these exhibitions challenge colonial structures through environmentalism, anti-capitalism, queerness and femininity. All these messages are valid and do hold... Continue Reading →

The next, and last exhibition to see in the homestead is a collaborative exhibition, Arranging by Chance by Abbra Kotlarczyk and Briony Galligan. Works are primarily a mix of photography, drawing and found objects (though there are some written and verbal texts). However, none of these works are presented conventionally. Rather, they are all arranged... Continue Reading →

Pia de Bruyn's Female Trouble, much like the other exhibitions at Bundoora Homestead, takes on a conceptual form. A group of plush, red seats (reminiscent to that from a cinema) sit at the centre of the room, facing a white wall. A montage of various movie titles are stuck on the wall, the text with... Continue Reading →

Rest time is the first exhibition we saw after we went upstairs. Curated by Laura Couttie, Rest time itself is a timely theme, much like jpg Fossils. Instead of looking at the impact of technology on the environment, however, this is more of a statement on slowing down within a post-capitalist economy that normalises the... Continue Reading →

Corinna Berndt's jpg Fossils is a video installation made up of various parts. A metal frame supports four small screens that each show a different video. This set up is novel, the videos showcasing various scenes of nature, as well as written text. Part of the frame holds a flat, circular surface, upon which sits... Continue Reading →