+Playlists by Jingxuan Chen, Nicholas Currie, Grace Davey, James Farrar and Pippa Lukaitis
Acknowledging the 50th anniversary of the Victorian College of the Arts (2022), the exhibition Bodies combines works by early generations of students at the National Gallery Art School with playlists devised by 5 current third year students. Together the paintings and the playlists form a snapshot of the shifts in student activity from the late 19th century to the early 21st century.
‘Despite the limitations imposed by the rigours of prescribed subject matter, techniques, and palette, many of the student works are striking for the way they engage us so directly. The sitters, whether professional models or fellow students – or people enticed into the School by students whose search for subjects extended to the surrounding streets, and to the gaunt and sunburned men from a nearby refuge for alcoholics – are in the main, entirely recognizable as individuals. It is this individuality, together with an often remarkable technical confidence, that gives many of the works a compelling presence and make it difficult to view them simply as ‘student exercises.’
Opening Celebration | Thursday October 6th, 5:00 - 7:00pm.
Room sheet | Bodies + Playlist order