I am delighted to share with you our exhibitions program for 2014. The selection reflects our desire to bring a dynamic program of innovative and engaging exhibitions.
We invite you to experience the great pleasure that art and design can bring to our lives through the presentation of special exhibitions and collection displays that interpret art in fresh and energetic ways.
One of our major events in early 2014 will be Melbourne Now, an ambitious survey of the extraordinary riches in contemporary art, design and architecture that can be found right here amongst our own local creative practitioners. A major legacy of this project will be the new focus it will bring to contemporary design at the NGV which we will continue to explore through the reinvigoration of our modern and contemporary design displays across both sites and through exhibitions such as our major forthcoming exhibition of Australian art, Mid-Century Modern: Australian Furniture Design, which will include an important component that examines innovation in Australian furniture design.
We are also looking forward to hosting major projects of international contemporary art in the coming year.
An exhibition of work by acclaimed first generation Chinese video artist Wang Gongxin will be a rare opportunity to directly engage with one of China’s leading, and most dynamic, multi-media practitioners.
We are also delighted to announce that next summer the NGV will be presenting a major exhibition of the work of Scottish contemporary artist David Shrigley who will be bringing his deadpan wit and unique vision to this exclusive Melbourne showing.
We will, of course, be continuing our much loved Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series. We are very excited that in 2014 we will be welcoming an extraordinary exhibition of Italian masterpieces from the Museo del Prado which will include superb works by some of the greatest names in the history of art such as Titian, Tintoretto, Raphael, Correggio and Tiepolo. This will be the first time that the Prado’s Italian holdings have been lent as an exhibition outside of Spain, most of these works have not been seen outside of Europe. This is truly a rare chance to view some outstanding paintings and works on paper from the Prado’s magnificent collections and this will also be exclusive to Melbourne.
We want the Gallery to be a place that is relevant and accessible to all our audiences, young or old, whether you are looking for a quiet, contemplative experience or an immersive, participatory one. Accompanying all our exhibitions will be a full range of public programs that will offer opportunities for engagement on a wide variety of platforms. Many of these are free and all are open to everyone to enjoy.
The NGV needs to be a place where you and your families can feel a sense of joy, wonder and discovery. To this end we have developed a new purpose-built children’s gallery where leading national and international artists will create commissioned works and site-specific displays that will introduce art in playful and surprising ways to our younger audiences. An important element in these projects will be interactive components that will encourage children’s creativity and innovation.
We look forward to welcoming you all to the NGV in 2014, one that considers and reflects the creative and social forces that define and shape the world in which we live.
Tony Ellwood
Director