This summer the NGV will celebrate the ubiquitous T-shirt, with a new NGV Studio exhibition, TEES: Exposing Melbourne’s T-shirt culture.
A collaboration with creative agency Just Another and the world’s only T-shirt journal T-world, the exhibition dissects Melbourne’s passion for T-shirts through the eyes of avid collector, Eddie Zammit. TEES will showcase some of Melbourne’s most influential artists, brands and designers.
From iconic Melbourne T-shirts of the past and present featuring brands like BURN, Renegade and Schwipe to T-shirt souvenirs from music concerts and sporting events, visitors to the exhibition will be exposed to Melbourne’s T-shirt culture.
Tony Ellwood, NGV Director, said NGV Studio has an exciting program to offer visitors over the summer as part of the TEES exhibition.
“We are thrilled to be hosting a range of HIT+RUN events, featuring live screen-printing in the exhibition space where visitors can not only witness the printing process behind the T-shirt, but also take a limited-edition printed T-shirt home with them,” Mr Ellwood said.
Visitors to TEES will gain an insight into the unsung heroes of the T-shirt world including independent T-shirt stores, local screen-printers and the people behind the T-shirts – the fans.
David Hurlston, Curator, Australian Art, said T-shirts have become an important part of Melbourne’s street culture.
“For Eddie Zammit, T-shirts are an obsession. He owns over 4,000 T-shirts – that’s enough tees to wear one a day for over a decade. He also stores them alphabetically by brand, color and design,” Mr Hurlston said.
Zammit, who has curated major T-shirt exhibitions in New York and Sydney, has never unleashed anything on his hometown to this extent.
“T-shirts are without a doubt the most universally popular item of clothing, their appeal crosses all divides of age, gender, nationality, race, and religion. This will be a celebration of Melbourne’s T-shirt culture – past, present and future,” Mr Zammit said.
NGV Studio is a contemporary exhibition and event space that provides opportunities for audience and artist engagement. For further information about NGV Studio and TEES, please visit ngv.vic.gov.au. NGV Studio is open Sun–Wed, 10am–5pm and Thu–Sat, 10am–10pm. Entry is free.
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