A year of innovation and experimentation at NGV Studio
This month marks the one year anniversary of the National Gallery of Victoria’s NGV Studio, a contemporary gallery space that promotes new and experimental art forms, encouraging innovation and experimentation in content, context, interpretation and display. Over the last twelve months, NGV Studio has hosted 11 exhibitions and welcomed more than 70,000 visitors to its range of exhibitions and events.
“One of the most rewarding outcomes for the NGV over the past year has been the direct engagement with artists – particularly emerging artists and those working at the edges of contemporary practice – and the opportunity this has provided for the public to witness these artists at work,” said David Hurlston, Curator, Australian Art and NGV Studio Coordinator, NGV.
NGV Studio has involved over 60 artists since opening, allowing them the freedom to transform the space with the assistance of NGV’s curatorial, programs and installation teams.
Frances Lindsay, Deputy Director, National Gallery of Victoria, said, “NGV Studio received a warm welcome from young Melburnians with its very first show, Everfresh, which celebrated Melbourne’s dynamic street art culture. The support continued with our 24-hour drawing party for Inherent Vice, with over 550 visitors through the space within those 24 hours. We’re extremely proud to have worked in conjunction with so many talented artists over the past year and look forward to the exciting and innovative things to come.”
Assistant Curator, Beckett Rozentals, said, “There is nothing else like NGV Studio – one week we have eight women collaborating on works which are inspired by fluorescent colours (Fluoresce), then the following week rows of dirty jeans are pinned to the walls (Nobody Was Dirty). Just last month we had 800 lanterns throughout the ceiling cavity and an Embassy manned by three gold-suited men (The Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), before pondering the future of books with Future Bookshop.”
Since opening, Melburnians have shown their support both in presence and online via Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Upcoming NGV Studio exhibitions can be viewed at www.ngv.vic.gov.au.
NGV Studio is located at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square. Open Sun–Wed, 10am–5pm and Thu–Sat, 10am–10pm. Free entry.
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NGV STUDIO PROJECTS TO DATE:
Everfresh
11 June 2011 – 10 July 2011
The Everfresh street art crew were chosen by the Melbourne public to stage the first ever exhibition at NGV Studio. Everfresh won against three other leading Melbourne crews in a live street art battle, with the winner decided via voting on Facebook and Twitter.
Inherent Vice
16 July 2011 – 16 August 2011
Inherent Vice saw eight cartoonists from Melbourne vacate their studios to come together and collaborate on comic art, D.I.Y. publications and their own larger projects. For five weeks they worked from NGV Studio, drawing, painting, printing and binding in full view of passing commuters.
Consultancy
20 August 2011 – 18 September 2011
Consultancy involved a group of three final year Fine Arts students from the Victorian College of Arts (VCA). Using NGV Studio as a point of reference, Matthew Benjamin, Virginia Overell and Nic Tammens examined the ideas of ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ as they relate to architecture, design, popular culture and social media.
Game/Play
24 September 2011 – 6 November 2011
Game/Play explored the evolution of digital games, presenting an insight into the new wave of independent game development. Visitors were able to play a range of independent games and enjoy displays of concept and game related art, including design sketches and character studies.
Board
12 November 2011 – 2 February 2012
Board explored the evolution of skate graphics and design with over 60 skateboards alongside assorted ephemera including seminal magazines, posters, banners, stickers, patches and a range of wheels in various colours, shapes and sizes.
Fluoresce
11 February 2012 – 8 March 2012
Fluoresce, an exhibition by all-female artist group Fluoresce Studio, invited visitors to engage with the visual potential of fluorescent colour through projection, painting, adhesive murals and craft-based processes.
Nobody Was Dirty
10 March 2012 – 1 April 2012
Tullia Jack’s project Nobody Was Dirty explored everyday cleaning rituals by engaging thirty people to wear the same pair of jeans for three months without washing them, transforming the items into unlikely new art forms.
Manifestations of Now
7 April 2012 – 26 April 2012
Manifestations of Now saw seven contemporary Australian artists from diverse art practices and cultural traditions take over NGV Studio with a showcase of innovative multidisciplinary artworks that inspired new ways of seeing contemporary Australia. The exhibition was part of a wider project presented by WeAustralians.org, a Melbourne-based artist-run initiative, where 18 contemporary Australian artists utilised the many galleries and interactive spaces of Federation Square.
CHAZ: L.A. Hand Styles
28 April 2012 – 6 May 2012
CHAZ: L.A. Hand Styles presented an exhibition of work by legendary Los Angeles street artist Chaz Bojorquez, commonly acknowledged as a pioneer of East Los Angeles “cholo” style graffiti.
The Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
17 May 2012 – 27 May 2012
A fictional pan-Asian empire, located within NGV Studio, was created for The Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This faux embassy was an exotic and stylised installation, embellished with kitsch objects and original artworks, which formed the setting for a cultural program of live events.
Future Bookshop
2 June 2012 – 17 June 2012
Part art installation, part library and part interactive playground, Future Bookshop presented a space for lovers of the written word. Visitors were invited to explore, ponder, read, write and imagine the future of books and a brave new world of reading in a digital age.