It is not at all uncommon for heritage sites to be turned into gallery spaces. Melbourne especially has quite a few examples of this, not limited to the likes of Heide and Montsalvat. The Bundoora Homestead too, is a site with significant history. It was once the home of John Matthew Vincent Smith, a prominent... Continue Reading →

I've often believed that well-curated exhibitions must be accessible, easy to understand and memorable to audiences. The artwork has to be central, because that is what people come to see. If an exhibition is curated successfully, audiences will have come from it remembering the work, the curating being seamless and a behind-the scenes (albeit, significant)... Continue Reading →

If you have been following this blog for a while, you will be familiar with my stance on blockbuster exhibitions and can skip the remainder of this paragraph. If not, welcome and keep reading on. When I refer to blockbuster exhibitions, I'm more referring to grand scale exhibitions, mostly put on by major (often state... Continue Reading →

Recently I had the privilege of visiting Heide's most recent large-scale photography exhibition, Man Ray and Max Dupain. This is located in the Heide Main Galleries, downstairs Heide III, the largest building on the site. Given the success of the Lee Miller photography exhibition earlier this year, it is good to see that Heide's curatorial... Continue Reading →

As someone who follows many different art institutions on social media, exhibition advertisements are inescapable. Even peers who are not as interested as art, will no doubt be familiar with one of NGV's blockbusters, or have gone to them personally. Posing in front of a work at the NGV for an Instagram post or reel... Continue Reading →

Just last week the NGA had unveiled an expensive new acquisition: Jeff Koons's Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice (2013-17). For those not familiar, American artist Jeff Koons is mostly well-known for "producing" highly expensive, ornate works of fairly mundane subjects, most typically as balloon animals akin to what children would get from the fair. As opposed... Continue Reading →

I know what you're thinking: "Stop being such a Luddite! AI is the way of the future!" Indeed, this is a view that I have heard repeated over by peers, whilst seeing a plethora of AI advertisements of AI apps. Whether you want to learn a language, edit a photo, generate content for social media... Continue Reading →

One does not need to be an avid follower of politics, nor a regular news consumer to know that there is much upheaval regarding the state of the world these past few years. In 2023, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (Posie Parker) held a "Let Women Speak" event on the steps of the Victorian Parliament, an anti-trans rights... Continue Reading →

An artist's collaboration is not the easiest exhibition to stage. Seeing as most artists are solitary creatures who prefer to work on their own, teaming up with another artist (or a group of artists) can pose challenges. This is the case when there are different approaches, mediums, values and philosophies. And that's not even including... Continue Reading →

Over the centuries, flowers have been used as a staple subject matter. Whether one is a painter, drawer, or photographer, floral imagery is largely omnipresent in people's houses, gift shops, small galleries, and large institutional spaces. Taking all of this into account, it makes sense that an exhibition related to a Wunderkammer (German: Room of... Continue Reading →