NGV: Melbourne Now

Welcome to Melbourne Now, NGV’s blockbuster, vast and sprawling art exhibition cementing our city as the nation’s cultural capital of contemporary art, design and innovation. Taking over three levels at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, this extraordinary and future-focused collection of more than 200 projects on display includes everything from fashion and jewellery, painting, sculpture, architecture and ceramics, video and VR, printmaking and manufacturing. 

Ten years since the landmark Melbourne Now 2013, what is striking about this exhibition is how it serves as a quasi-time capsule, showcasing how far we have progressed and evolved. The stunning collection expresses how we think, innovate, conceptualise, ideate and challenge prevailing societal structures and connotations. Bold, vibrant and absolutely colossal in some respects, the exhibition features never-before-seen commissioned works interspersed across Australian art and First Nations permanent collection displays. 

One of the most thought-provoking pieces includes For the angels in paradise on level 2 by Mia Boe. The Melbourne-based painter from Brisbane with Butchulla and Burmese ancestry, the work is a mix of personal anecdotes and a comment on historical trauma, violence, displacement and police intervention. On the ground floor is Lee Darroch’s 10-metre-long installation Duta Ganha Woka (Save Mother Earth Now), which comprises driftwood pieces collected on Country, representing men and women from 38 Indigenous language groups of Victoria.

Other standouts on the ground floor include a room-sized ‘temple’ meets futuristic game arcade and server room vibes by emerging artist Rel Pham, who draws on his Vietnamese heritage and interest in gaming culture. The neon-lit installation is an expression of the visual language of technology, classical Asian architecture and religious iconography. In a collaboration between NGV and Craft Victoria, there is Vessels, a collection of 15 artists, and craft and design practitioners who conceptualise and pay homage to the vessel, an enduring cultural and social object from the beginning of time. Mountain climber by Troy Emery stands at nearly three metres and may be one of the most memorable pieces to see. The gargantuan sculpture of a feline creature perched atop a gallery plinth explores humankind’s relationship with animals and their presentation of taxidermy form. 

The third floor houses the iconic Design Wall, which is a large-scale installation celebrating consumer products designers in Melbourne over the past decade. Expect to see household brands such as Robert Gordon Pottery, Tontine, Globe International, July and other products, including ladders, motorbikes, medical equipment and guitars. In the next room stands Civic Architecture, a nod to five award-winning civic projects that have revitalised and transformed neighbours in Dandenong, Geelong and Broadmeadows. 

Julia Ciccarone’s expansive work Revelation invites visitors to immerse themselves in an arresting panorama of a large-scale wallpaper. On reflecting on her style and approach, Julia comments that she sees her work through the lens of a film where she figures out what the subject is doing next. South Sudanese artist Atong Atem’s striking photography examines postcolonial practices among the African diaspora in Melbourne.

Shaun Gladwell’s Passing Electrical Storm is a participatory XR experience simulating cardiac arrest, death, and, then a “out of body” experience. Described as meditative and unsettling, this work reflects the artist’s career-long inquiry into the human body and dimensional extremes. 

Another ultramodern installation is Georgia Banks’ Gee, an AI chatbot developed using data from the questionnaires completed during the process of applying for several popular Australian reality TV dating show. (Presumably, any show that features lines such as, “Can I pull you for a chat?”). Visitors can engage with the chatbot and see if love blossoms. 

Extraordinary, showstopping and empowering, the exhibition truly reflects the diversity of voice and innovation in Victoria. Melbourne Now is a free exhibition and is on display until Sunday 20 August 2023.

Melbourne Now
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square, Flinders and Russell Streets, Melbourne, 3000
Open until Sunday 20 August 2023
ngv.vic.gov.au/melbourne-now