More than 200 Victorian-based artists, designers, studios and practices will be showcasing their work at the ground-breaking Melbourne Now exhibition scheduled to open in March 2023 at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in Fed Square, Melbourne.

To be held from 24 March - 20 August 2023, the second edition of the ground-breaking exhibition is bolder in scope and scale, with over 200 ambitious and thought-provoking projects on display, including more than 60 world-premiere works commissioned especially by the NGV for this major presentation. Melbourne Now highlights the vibrant creativity of local emerging, mid-career and senior practitioners and collectives, including many who are presenting at the NGV for the very first time.

The large-scale exhibition traverses all levels of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, including contemporary interventions across the Australian Art and First Nations permanent collection displays, and highlights a diverse range of contemporary disciplines across fashion, jewellery, painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, video, virtual reality, performance, photography, printmaking, product design and publishing.

Exhibiting artists include Christian Thompson, Esther Stewart, Atong Atem, Mia Boe, Kait James, Pitcha Makin Fellas, Layla Vardo, Nicholas Mangan, Fiona Abicare, Meagan Streader, Sean Hogan, Amos Gebhardt, and Lisa Reid.

Key highlights of Melbourne Now 2023

Emerging artist Rel Pham’s commission is a room-sized ‘temple’ constructed from thousands of computer fans, drawing on the artist’s Vietnamese heritage and interest in gaming culture. Blurring the boundaries between the digital and physical realms, this neon-lit installation combines the visual language of technology, classical Asian architecture and religious iconography.

Lou Hubbard’s Walkers with Dinosaurs, 2021–23 sees a mass of inflatable walking frames tumbling out into the foyer of the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia’s third floor. Presented alongside two stacks of colourful, dinosaur-shaped children’s chairs, with humour, the sculptural installation poignantly evokes the inevitabilities of our shared mortality.

Larrakia/Wardaman/Karajarri artist Jenna Lee collaborates with Kyoto-based lantern studio Kojima Shōten to illuminate the gallery with a series of hand-painted paper lanterns in the shape of Gulumerridjin dilly bags, a traditional woven bag designed and used by First Nations women. Balarr (To Become Light) explores the relationship between light and dark and draws on the artist’s research into ancestral objects including the similarities between her own paper craft practice and the Kyoto style paper lanterns.

Lee Darroch’s 10-metre-long installation Duta Ganha Woka (Save Mother Earth) welcomes visitors to NGV Australia. Made from driftwood that represents men and women from the 38 Indigenous language groups of Victoria, the installation connects the driftwood pieces with jute string to illustrate the deep connection between First Nations peoples in this region.

The hugely popular Design Wall returns with a large-scale installation celebrating consumer products designed in Melbourne over the past decade, including guitars, ladders, pillows, luggage, motorbikes and more. Representing 23 Melbourne design studios, the Design Wall brings together designers, companies and brands such as Globe International, Robert Gordon Pottery and Tontine.

Ranging from couture to streetwear, Fashion Now features the work of 18 local designers including Ngali, Chris Ran Lin, Arnsdorf, Blair Archibald, Nixi Killick, Erik Yvon, Strateas Carlucci and Verner.

Melbourne Now is on display from 24 March to 20 August 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne.

Entry is free. Please visit the NGV website, NGV.MELBOURNE for further information.

Image credit: Melbourne Now 2023 artists and designers at the announcement event on 18 October. Melbourne Now 2023 will open on 24 March 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.
Photo: Eugene Hyland

Branko Miletic

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