The best art exhibitions in Melbourne this week

Arrive at the corner of Flinders Lane and Hosier Lane on pretty much any day of the week and you’ll run into a throng of tourists jostling to get ‘the shot’ of Melbourne’s ever-evolving street art hotspot. No two visits to this spray can alley are ever the same, but from December 12 there’ll be another more stable artistic delight to enjoy on the famous corner. To those in the know, Sandra Powell and Andrew King have become shining lights of the Aussie street art scene, known for supporting up-and-coming artists through acquisitions for their extensive private collection 15 years in the making.  Street art legend Rone says the pair, often known as ‘Sandrew’, have been “champions of Melbourne’s street art community for over a decade”. Now, they’re drawing on their personal collection to create a ripper of a free exhibition, running from December 12 until May 2025 at 167 Flinders Lane (right on the aforementioned iconic corner).  The Outsiders Melbourne will feature more than 100 works from Sandrew’s collection, including art never before displayed in public. Expect gems from local names like Rone, Adnate, Sofles, Vexta, Fintan Magee, Meggs, Kaff-eine and more.  On the international side, feast your eyes on art from Barry McGee, Vhils, Swoon, Invader, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, Elle and an entire room dedicated to Banksy himself. Fans of the mystery artist will be pleased to know that this exhibition will also see his new work ‘Firework’ on display in Australia for the...

Whack on something dazzling and dust off your dancing shoes as the much-loved NGV Friday Nights returns this summer. The popular event returns for 18 weeks during the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at NGV International.  This world-premiere exhibition features more than 180 works, including an NGV-specific piece transforming the iconic Waterwall and an installation of giant balloons in the Great Hall called 'Dots Obsession'. The blockbuster showing has taken over the entire ground floor of the gallery, filling it with works from the artist best known for her unique use of dots. From December 20 until April 18, you can take an after-hours journey through immersive installations, including Kusama’s beloved infinity rooms. Grab a tipple from one of the multiple bars (including the Moët and Chandon Champagne Bar and the Four Pillars Gin Bar), or enjoy a set menu at the NGV Garden Restaurant from acclaimed Aussie chef Martin Benn. If a snack is more your vibe, head to the Great Hall or Gallery Kitchen for a Japanese-inspired menu. The trendy tunes are another key drawcard of NGV Friday nights, with DJs performing in the Great Hall every night. These musicians have been chosen to compliment the energy of Kusama’s work with upbeat J-pop and electro rhythms. The stacked line-up includes Small Fry, Jnett, Aqueerius, Rainbow Chan and takeovers from both Midsumma and Asia TOPA.  NGV Friday Nights runs from December 20 until April 18. For further information and to book tickets visit the NGV...

Melburnians, it’s time to get dotty, because NGV International is playing host to the largest collection of Yayoi Kusama’s work ever seen in Australia. The exhibition (aptly named Yayoi Kusama) will take over the entire ground floor of the gallery, with works from the artist best known for her unique use of dots. Opening on December 15, this world-premiere exhibition will feature more than 180 works, including an NGV-specific piece transforming the iconic Waterwall and an installation of giant balloons in the Great Hall called 'Dots Obsession'. Many of the works coming to Melbourne for this impressive exhibition have never been seen locally before, including the Australian debut of 'Dancing Pumpkin', a towering five-metre-tall bronze sculpture that visitors can view by walking underneath. As if five metres wasn’t tall enough, Melbourne will also score the Aussie premiere of Kusama’s six-metre-tall tentacle-esque sculpture, named 'The Hope of the Polkadots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe'.  We’re particularly excited about the global premiere of a brand new Yayoi Kusama infinity room work, which will be part of a collection of immersive spaces included in the exhibition. Kusama’s infinity rooms employ the clever use of mirrors to create an illusion of never-ending space, making for a fun and mind-bending experience for visitors of all ages. Lucky for us, the artist has created a new room just for Melbourne!  Even more fortunately for Melburnians, it...

Melbourne’s cutting edge digital art gallery, the Lume, is bringing back its beloved opening exhibition for a summer season. Van Gogh will have an encore run starting on Boxing Day, after breaking attendance records in 2021. Last time, the immersive experience attracted a whopping 1.8 million visitors between Australia and New Zealand, making it the region’s most visited ticketed cultural event.  Van Gogh made kaleidoscopic waves through the city when it served as the first-ever exhibition at the digital gallery, re-shaping the way Melburnians experience art. The experience reimagines the now-famous painter's works as projections that completely ensconce you in an 11-metre tall gallery, allowing you to feel like you're in van Gogh's bedroom or under that famous starry night. A mirrored infinity room filled with countless sunflowers also features, which is particularly Instagrammable.  For the return season, the Lume is adding a brand-new virtual reality experience called Finding Vincent. Slip on a headset and learn more about van Gogh’s life, alongside friends or companions.  Within the Lume, visitors can experience art all around them. Instead of looking at paintings on walls or sculptures on plinths, art is projected onto the walls to make you feel like you've stepped inside the paintings themselves. Scents and sounds are also pumped into the gallery to add to the experience.  If you get peckish you can also drop into Terrace Café 1888 where you can snack on delights...

Each year, St Kilda fixture Linden New Art hosts a free-to-attend exhibition that offers a snapshot of Australia’s artscape by dint of its open door policy. The only rules for entry are that the artist must be Australian, and the work must be approximately postcard-sized. Add in a stack of cash prizes, and you have the perfect recipe for a consistently dynamic range of styles and calibres.  More than 1,000 works from artists at every stage of their career will be displayed, including (as of last year) select 3D artworks. Alongside emerging artists, you can also expect works from established names including Jane O’Neil, Jacqui Stockdale and Sarah Crowest.  This year marks the Linden Postcard Show’s 34th edition, and the second time guidelines have been expanded to include slightly larger works, though not so large as to sacrifice the exhibition’s miniature charm. Winners of the more than $10,000 in cash prizes (including a people’s choice award and a First Nations prize) will be announced during the run, and if you like a particular work you can usually buy it as well, for a reasonable price.  The exhibition opens on December 7 and runs through summer until February 2 2025. There’s no need to register to attend, just rock up and support local creatives. More information is available at the Linden New Art website.  Feeling arty? Check out the best art and exhibitions happening in Melbourne this month.

Do you have golden retriever energy, or are you more of a black cat kind of person? Felines and canines form an important part of the everyday lives, pop culture and mythology of humans, and the latest exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria celebrates the role of these animals.  Cats and Dogs is now showing at the NGV’s Ian Potter Centre until July 2025. The exhibition will feature more than 250 works of art, design and fashion spanning diverse periods and media, all drawn from the NGV’s own collection.  One side of the exhibition is dedicated to all things dogs, with the other side to our feline friends. The cross-cultural and transhistorical collection of artworks spotlights the cultural symbolism of cats and dogs, from their significance in religion, spirituality and the occult, to their appearances in pop culture.  The multifaceted line-up of artists includes Pierre Bonnard, Rembrandt van Rijn, David Hockney and Jeff Koons, as well as local talents Atong Atem, Grace Cossington Smith and Trevor Turbo Brown. In terms of fashion, there are also impressive pieces from Romance Was Born and Alexander McQueen. Find out more about Cats and Dogs including ticket information over here. Feeling arty? Check out the best art and exhibitions happening in Melbourne this month.

Entering the first-ever retrospective exhibition of Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie’s expansive work is like stepping into a colour-saturated graffiti-influenced essay on the lasting impacts of colonisation. Rekospective: The Art of Reko Rennie showcases works from the artist’s career spanning two decades, in the largest display of his work to date. The retrospective also included never before seen bodies of work.  Now showing at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia until January 27 2025, this free exhibition consists of mostly autobiographical works which explore Rennie’s experience navigating contemporary so-called Australian society as a First Nations person. Expect bold colours, graffiti-like elements and contemporary references, all underpinned by traditional Kamilaroi designs and patterns.  Since starting out as a street artist, Rennie has gone on to exhibit at the 2015 Venice Biennale and the 2016 Biennale de Cuenca, becoming known for his subversion of romanticised Aboriginal identities.  Highlights of the exhibition include a Rolls Royce covered in pink and black camouflage, a 15-metre-wide light sculpture created in response to the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s landfall, and a three-channel film with an operatic score called Initiation OA_RR.  Find out more about Reko Rennie, his story and this exhibition at the NGV website. Feeling arty? Check out the best art and exhibitions happening in Melbourne this month.

Screen culture is so often where our ideas of the future are formed, which is why ACMI is hosting an entire exhibition dedicated to the topic. The Future and Other Fictions is a collection of sets, props, artworks, scripts, costumes and more, all underpinned by their shared exploration of a fictional tomorrow. With more than 180 items on display spanning Black Panther to Björk, this one’s sure to stimulate your imagination and spark reflection in equal measure. The exhibition is now showing and you’ll have the chance to immerse yourself in future worlds through to April 27 2025. Music-lovers can see Björk’s famous pleated dress from the music video for ‘The Gate’ (in all its iridescent, custom Gucci glory), while cinephiles can feast their eyes on detailed costumes from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and miniature sets from Blade Runner 2049.  ACMI has also commissioned two forward-looking moving image works for the exhibition. Check out Birth of Dawn by Hannah Brontë, which is all about the cyclical nature of life. For a glimpse at a hopeful future where fossil fuels are banned, don’t miss After the End – designed and directed by Liam Young, and written and performed by Natash Wanganeen.  The museum will also host a program of screenings, talks and workshops to complement the exhibition. Tickets to The Future and Other Fictions cost between $10-22.50 and you can grab yours via the ACMI website.  Got a thirst for knowledge? Check out the best art and exhibitions happening...

Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion arrives at Melbourne Museum's Bunjilaka Aboriginal Culture Centre after being created for Bendigo Art Gallery. The exhibition shines a light on 36 of Australia's leading First Nations creatives, tracing an Indigenous design movement that has evolved into a national phenomenon.  Witness the beauty and story of 24 hand-crafted garments by Indigenous artists and designers, created across the nation from the inner city to remote desert art centres. The diversity of these garments reflects the strength and breadth of the rapidly expanding Indigenous fashion and textile industry in this country.  The exhibition is the first major survey of contemporary textiles and fashion by First Nations artists in Australia. Piinpi features artists including Grace Lillian Lee, Maree Clarke, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Lisa Waup x Verner, Hopevale Arts and Culture Centre, Maara Collective, Lore, Aarli Fashion, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Lyn-Al Young (who was commissioned to create five new pieces for the exhibition).  This remarkable collection is curated by Bendigo Art Gallery First Nations curator and Kaantju woman Shonae Hobson, who says the exhibition will be unlike anything else audiences have seen. “Throughout the gallery, we present beautifully crafted fabrics and wearable fashion items, each expressing a connection to culture and to Country through very bold and exciting ways – distinct from anything else being produced around the world.”...

Māori storyteller Irihipeti Waretini has created a new exhibition of photography, multimedia art and film centred around the Māori matriarchy. Māreikura - Ka rere te rongoā (the medicine flows) is happening now at the CBD’s Immigration Museum, until late February 2025.  The exhibition, which is Waretini’s first solo showing, features 15 striking photographic portraits of Māori women, all of whom have moko kauae – aka traditional chin tattoos. Also included is an intricately carved pou (pillar).  ‘Māreikura’ is a te reo Māori term meaning matriarch or noble-born woman, such as those seen in the portraits. According to Waretini, “moko kauae has direct systemic healing mechanisms for Māori and anyone who beholds us wearing it.  “So naturally, it would be a key part of my first solo exhibition”, she says. “When the missionaries and early settlers arrived in Aotearoa, they brought with them their culturally specific understandings of the role and status of women, which was and is very demeaning to the importance and status of the Māori Matriarchy within Māori society. “Every opportunity we take to centre our Māreikura, we are returning to the ways in which we acknowledge the natural order of the universe, the interrelationship or whanaungatanga of all living things to one another and to the environment, and the overarching principle of balance, and securing an Indigenous future.” Māreikura is free to attend for members and children. Tickets for adults are $15, or $10 for...