Melbourne Now Exhibition
Back at the start of the Easter school holidays in April we had an afternoon exploring the Melbourne Now exhibition. This was also the start of our visit from Andy's parents, who were with us for the month of April. Melbourne Now is a free exhibition put on by the NGV, located across both galleries: NGV International and the Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square. We only visited the Ian Potter Centre, which was an expansive experience covering all three levels. The NGV say this about the exhibition:
‘Melbourne Now celebrates the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice to reflect the complex cultural landscape of creative Melbourne.’
The exhibition showcases works from Victorian-based artists, and covers a diverse range of artistic disciplines, such as painting, sculpture, fashion, virtual reality, photography, performance, architecture and product design. There were many pieces that you could interact with, which was especially great for the kids. This started with the giant spinning tops outside that you could sit in and spin around.
Once inside our first stop was the children's area (of course!) where the kids engaged in some drawing and crafts based on one of the artworks.
It took us a little while to draw them away from this and to the rest of the exhibition. We were almost immediately greeted by 'Mountain Climber', a giant tiger composed of colourful pom-poms to form a 3-meter tall sculpture by artist Troy Emery. The work explores human's relationship with taxidermy animals that are usually found on display in museums.
The installation 'Black River Running' by Jan Nelson features a 4-meter rug made from hundreds of t-shirts featuring activist or protest slogans. Visitors were encouraged to walk on the rug. Beside the rug were eight wind chimes, each playing key notes from a selection of protest songs from the last 100 years. The work is meant to showcase the individual role in collective activism.
These powder pink gates by Elvis Richardson prompt visitors to reflect on the question "who are the gatekeepers?" as they interact with the gates. I don't know if Ella and Ollie were thinking that deeply about this sculpture, but they enjoyed running through the gates nonetheless.
In another room was a 'temple' constructed of thousands of computer fans by the artist Rel Pham. This work combine's his Vietnamese heritage and interest in gaming culture, and shows the blurring boundaries between the digital and physical worlds.
I wasn't great at keeping track of all the different artist and works, so the next two I don't have much information on. The two seats below were from a set of 4, spelling out the word "Look" and were yet another interactive part of the exhibition.
Below was a hanging tent structure that was a 2:1 scale replica of the artist's apartment. It was like being in a floating house!
Check out the size of this GIANT t-shirt!
Ollie was fascinated with Taree McKenzie's 'Pepper's Ghost Effect, Circles' which was a video installation where the illusion changed when viewed from different perspectives.
Our last stop was at 'Swarming' by James Lemon. This immersive work is an ultraviolet hive of activity, where the kids could interact with soft pupae forms and learn about the life of a bee. This was by far their favourite part of the exhibition and they probably would have stayed and played all day!
The pieces of art I've included really only scratch the surface of the exhibition. It really is immense, we spent a good 2-3 hours exploring and that was with the kids rushing us through lots of it. I am hoping to get back on my own, perhaps in the next school holidays, and to also make a visit to the NGV International to see the second half of it. The Director of the NGV Tony Ellwood says of the exhibition:
'[Melbourne Now 2023 offers us] an invaluable opportunity to pause and reflect on who we are as a city. This exhibition looks inward at the concerns of artists and designers, but also outwards at the world that wraps around us – a world of beauty, a world of complexity. This is what Melbourne creativity looks like right here, right now.’
If you're in Melbourne at the moment, I highly recommend checking it out before it closes on 20th August!
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