Australia's Top 10 New Art Galleries You Should Know About

Featuring 70 leading Australian and international galleries and around 300 artists, the 2014 Melbourne Art Fair is at the centre of the city’s vibrant contemporary art and culture community. Established 25 years ago, the fair is Australia’s leading art event, presenting a rich and diverse programme divided in five main sections. This year sees the launch of a new sector, MAF Platform, which features young galleries and emerging artist-run initiatives. Take a look at some of the new, upcoming galleries and art spaces in Australia.

1. .M Contemporary

Art Gallery, Market

Dale Buckley, Wool and Delicate [Still] 2014, HD Video

South African-born art collector Michelle Patterson opened .M Contemporary in 2013, with the aim of exposing Australian and international artists on the local market. The gallery is divided in two spaces; the main gallery is dedicated to established and renowned artists from Australia, Asia and Africa – Lyndi Sales, Garth Knight, Conrad Botes, to name a few. The second space is located on the upper-floor and it devoted to emerging national artists. Patterson, with her gallery manager Louise Rush, actively seeks new talents from independent art studios and universities. In January 2014, the gallery organised ENGAGE Emerging Australian Artist Exhibition Engage – a multi-media, group exhibition showcasing the artistic experiments and creations by eight emerging artists. Young Artists’ Initiative displayed works, from various disciplines, by graduate students from the College of Fine Arts, the National Art School and the Sydney College of the Arts. The gallery’s efforts are also directed towards narrowing the gap between collectors and artists, by setting up talks and regular shows to stimulate and ongoing debate around contemporary art.

blackartprojects

Without a stable base, blackartprojects is a platform promoting visual art in different venues around Melbourne. Started in 2010 with the aim of establishing an environment where contemporary artists – national and international – have absolute control over their own exhibitions and projects, blackartprojects has delivered a rich cultural programme comprising art exhibitions, music events, performances and art-related publications. Most recent exhibitions include Flat Earth by Tom O’Hern and No Sleep Till Dreamtime by Reko Rennie. Two video installations by Hamish Farah and Joe Hamilton are included in the Synthetic Landscapes section of the MFA video programme this year. Also presented at the fair are the sculptures, drawings and video installations by Littlewhitehead and the works by Mark Whalen. blackartprojects, various venues, +61 438 007 54, +61 421 990 481

Utopian Slumps

Originally founded as a non-for-profit artist-run initiative, Utopian Slumps officially re-opened as a commercial gallery in 2010. Formerly directed by artist Melissa Loughnan (who now manages Anna Schwartz Gallery), Utopian Slumps is characterised by a youthful and eclectic parterre of artists that are deeply rooted in the Melbourne contemporary art scene. Since its conversion to a commercial gallery, Utopian Slumps has left an imprint on international platforms by participating at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2014 and 2013, Art Stage Singapore in 2013 and, the previous year, at Art Fair Tokyo. Renowned for its curatorial practice, Utopian Space has achieved the status of being one of the most prominent young and experimental galleries in Melbourne. Utopian Slumps, Ground Floor, 33 Guildford Lane, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, +61 3 9077 9918

2. Venn Gallery

Building, Shop, Art Gallery

Located in a refurbished historical three-storey building, Venn Gallery houses an exhibition area, a design shop, an artist studios and a bar. The four-year-old gallery was launched by Desi Litis and Jade Rubino with the aim to regularly host solo and group exhibition, and promote contemporary multi-disciplinary and media projects. And so they did, turning Venn Gallery in one of the trendiest and sought-after spaces for art and design lovers. Currently, Venn Gallery represents a diversified range of artists, including former fashion designer Tane Andrews, sculptor Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, painter and video artist Ben Barretto, and illustrator Patrick Doherty.

3. Gallery One

Art Gallery, Shop

Gallery One represents several collectable and award-winning Australian artists. Born in 2010 from the partnership between businessman Sahba Abedian and Tourism CEO Martin Winter, Gallery One is now one of the leading contemporary spots in the Gold Coast, it runs a dynamic exhibition programme showcasing the most prominent pieces of Australian investment art and offer advice to collectors and art lovers. At the 2014 Melbourne Art Fair, the gallery will display the creative works by Archibald Winner, Craig Ruddy as well as new works by emerging artist Joel Rea. Other acclaimed artists include David Bromley, Anthony Bennett, Aaron Kinnane and Min Woo-Bang. Gallery Oneshop 16.02 The Brickworks 107 Ferry Road, Southport, QLD, Australia