MARS Gallery (Melbourne Art Rooms) announces two stellar exhibitions for February next year.
Abbey Rich – Paths that don’t go where people want them to go
- Who: Abbey Rich
- What: Exhibition, Paths that don’t go where people want them to go
- Where: MARS Gallery, 7 James Street, Windsor
- When: 4 February – 25 February 2023, Opening Reception 4 pm, 4 February
Abbey Rich’s first exhibition at MARS will be Paths that don’t go where people want them to go.
Paths that don’t go where people want them to go is a reconstruction of strange occurrences in urban spaces. The work draws from case studies as well as personal exploration in the artist’s immediate surroundings. Abbey seeks to navigate the ego and the well-intentioned yet harmful effects that urban planning has on the functionality of public space. The work can be falsely reduced to its aesthetic. The approachability of the paintings and sculptures, with their clean lines and a well-informed, harmonious colour palette. When in reality it is a commentary on public and private space. Through sculptures such as ‘Stick a flower on it’ and a focus on distilled forms, Abbey is able to make their work accessible and engaging to all audiences, while critiquing the space around us. The exhibition will extend outside of the gallery space, with a new mural painted on the side of the MARS building.
Abbey Rich is a public and exhibiting artist based in Naarm. Their work predominantly looks at gender and environment, with a particular interest in accessible and community co-designed public art making. Having created over 40 murals, their work traverses both public and private space with commissions from the Immigration Museum, Minus18,The Australian Open and Selina, but predominantly by councils and arts festivals.
Atong Atem – Paintings
- Who: Atong Atem
- What: Exhibition, Paintings by Atong Atem
- Where: MARS Gallery, 7 James Street, Windsor
- When: 4 February – 25 February 2023, Opening Reception 4pm, 4 February
Atong Atem is an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist and writer based in Narrm/Melbourne. She works primarily with photography and video to explore migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the African diaspora and the exploration of identity through portraiture. Atem was the recipient of the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria and MECCA M-Power scholarship in 2017 as well as the Brisbane Powerhouse Melt Portrait Prize in 2016, and has exhibited at major institutions across Australia.
This exhibition marks Atem’s first exhibition of paintings. Internationally renowned for her photography and video, this suite of portraits extends on her complex practice of investigating post-colonial perceptions of identity.
For more info, head to the MARS Gallery website here.
