Exhibition archive
Browse a record of past exhibitions from 2022 onwards, organised by year. Expand each entry to view exhibition details, labels and, where available, virtual tour links.
2026
11 February to 1 May 2026
A survey of significant works from the career of Luke Cornish, also known as ELK, Australia’s leading stencil artist. Working in the medium for more than two decades, the exhibition traced the development of his career from the streets of his hometown of Kamberri/Canberra, to galleries across Australia and internationally.
Now living in Gadigal Nura/Sydney, Cornish’s works are meticulously constructed using up to one thousand stencils and hundreds of layers of aerosol paint. A self-described artist/activist, his works tackle complex social issues including urban-living, freedom of expression, consumerism and the effects of conflict.
Curated by Kira Godoroja-Prieckaerts.
Please Note: Some work in this exhibition features imagery relating to war, religion and social conflict.
Luke Cornish (ELK), Kevin McKenzie, 2025, stencil, aerosol and acrylic on canvas. Image and © courtesy of the artist.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibition
Download the artwork labels (PDF, 120KB)
Browse the exhibition catalogue
View ELK: Luke Cornish at the Deakin University Art Gallery on our YouTube Playlist
2025
22 October–12 December 2025
This exhibition revisits the original Face to Face exhibition from 2012, displaying creative responses to the Deakin University Art Collection by current Deakin University students, alumni and staff. Selected artists developed new works that reflect, reconsider and reimagine artworks from the University’s art collection, displayed in the first exhibition. The project presents the cherished nature of the Deakin University Art Collection and its role as a resource and inspiration for the wider university community.
Image: Jenny Grenfell, Contours 1986, weaving and macrame, 168 x 183 cm, purchased 1988 Deakin University Art Collection. Image © copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibition
Supported by the Eric Ormond Baker Charitable Fund, managed by Equity Trustees.
14 April – 6 June 2025
This exhibition marked the tenth collaborative showcase between the Deakin University Art Gallery and the School of Communication and Creative Arts. The project featured the interdisciplinary and experiential artistic practices of recent alumni of Deakin research degrees. Four distinguished artists, Anindita Banerjee, Deanne Gilson, Aaron Hoffman and Todd Johnson, were invited to present current projects, reflecting the diverse perspectives emerging from Deakin's creative research community. While their approaches and inquiries developed independently over the last four years, the exhibition revealed the artists’ shared exploration of the complexities of contemporary identity, material knowledge and understanding of place. Curated by James Lynch.
Image: Anindita Banerjee Third Space 2024, black and white photographic archival prints on Ilford rag paper, photo by Karan Mistry, image © copyright and courtesy of the artist
4 June–28 June 2025
The third exhibition from the Centre for Abstract+Non-Objective Art, supported by Deakin University Art Gallery, Deakin@McLaughlan celebrates the work of eight contemporary practitioners: Peter Atkins (courtesy Tolarno Galleries), Tracey Coutts, Louise Forthun (courtesy Charles Nodrum Gallery), Suzie Idiens, Stephen McCarthy, Wilma Tabacco (courtesy Gallerysmith), Stephen Wickham and Paul Zika. Curated by Stephen Wickham and Leanne Willis.
The previous shows (The Void. Visible and Text Re Read), were hosted at Deakin University Art Gallery and late 2026 will see the fourth ‘Centre’ show back at the Deakin gallery.
Stephen McLaughlan Gallery
Level 8 Room 16, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston St
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Image: Artwork left to right: Tracey Coutts, Orange Thread, Red Thread, Yellow Thread 2025; Paul Zika, Stellar 33 2023; Stephen Wickham As schisms blossoms as orthodoxy 2025; Peter Atkins Adidas: Stealth & Superstar 2021
27 August–10 October 2025
In its sixteenth year, this annual acquisitive award and exhibition is organised by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit at Deakin University. The award celebrates contemporary sculpture with an exhibition of finalists' work at the Deakin University Art Gallery. A fascinating snapshot of contemporary Australian sculpture.
Image: Installation image of the 2024 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, 2024, photo Fiona Hamilton image © copyright and courtesy of the artists.
18 June–8 August 2025
Venetian Bind captured key elements of an ambitious research project developed by Deakin University for European Cultural Centre in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. Featuring the creation of six interconnected artworks by teams of Deakin researchers and HDR candidates produced in situ across 2024, this project was curated by David Cross and Cameron Bishop from the Deakin Public Exchange Bureau with a specific focus on the ecology and cultures of Venice, the lagoon it sits in, and the islands that surround it. Cross and Bishop asked each group of researchers to respond to a unique ‘bind’, a provocation set in six specific Venetian locations. These experiences, ranging from encounters with local experts to hands-on workshops, fostered creativity and collaboration manifested in public performances and a series of artefacts and videos first exhibited in the Palazzo Mora and reinvented for Deakin University Art Gallery.
Image: Bernardo Bellotto The Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1743/1747 oil on canvas. Image in the public domain, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington. Adapted by Cameron Bishop, 2024. Promotional image only, provided by Curators of the Venetian Bind exhibition.
12 February–4 April 2025
This survey of the University’s Art Collection celebrated Deakin University’s 50 year anniversary. The exhibition took audiences on a journey through our 50 years of collecting. Pieces displayed marked significant milestones alongside new acquisitions, allowing visitors to explore not only the collection's origins, but also its ongoing development and reflect on the shifting trends in contemporary Australian art.
In conjunction with this exhibition, the publication Deakin University Art Collection: A Selection of Works Volume Two and a publicly accessible and searchable database of the Deakin University Art Collection were launched.
Image: Deanne Gilson Karringalabil Bundjil Murrup, Manna Gum Tree (The Creation Tree of Knowledge) 2020 ochre and acrylic on linen 90 x 100 x 3cm Deakin University Art Collection Purchase, 2021 image © copyright and courtesy of the artist
Deakin University Library, Melbourne Burwood Campus
9 November 2024–2 March 2025
In 2023, Andrew Rogers generously gifted 31 sculptures, valued at $6.1 million, to the Deakin University Art Collection. This generous donation is the largest philanthropic gift to the University Art Collection and is an historically significant contribution to the University. Using this exhibition as a starting point, read about the significance of the sculptures as you start your self-guided tour through the works on display at the Melbourne Burwood campus.
Take a video tour of the collection
A self-guided tour can also be accessed via the izi Travel App
Installation image of Andrew Rogers: Campus Collection at the Deakin University Library at Burwood from 9 November 2024 to 2 March 2025, photography Fiona Hamilton.
2024
23 October–13 December 2024
Andrew Rogers is a leading contemporary Australian artist whose work is exhibited in major galleries across Australia and internationally. His work can be found in prominent public and private collections around the world. This exhibition celebrated a selection of his most recent work, not previously seen in Melbourne. As Rogers says, the challenge is always to use materials in a new and different way and make them convey meaning and turn them into a form that has not been seen before.
Installation image of Andrew Rogers: New Work at the Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood campus from 23 October to 13 December 2024, photography Fiona Hamilton.
29 August–11 October
In its fifteenth year, this annual award was by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit, Deakin University, celebrating contemporary sculpture with an exhibition of 40 shortlisted works at the Deakin University Art Gallery. The 2024 prize pool was $21,000, with a $15,000 acquisitive prize for the winner, and a non-acquisitive prize of $3,000 for the highly commended recipient. At the end of the exhibition a People’s Choice Award was determined by votes from visitors with a non-acquisitive prize of $3,000.
Supported by Community Bank at Deakin University.
Image: 2024 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award installation view, Deakin University Art Gallery, August 2024. © and courtesy of the artists, photography Fiona Hamilton.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibition
Download the artwork labels (PDF, 167.9KB)
Learn more about the Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award
3 July–16 August 2024
Image: George Gittoes on location April 2022, Borodyanke, Ukraine. Painting in progress title House Where Children Lived, 2022.© and courtesy of the artist. Photo by Kate Parunova.
Originally staged at Hazelhurst Arts Centre, the Deakin University Art Gallery proudly presented celebrated Australian artist George Gittoes’ exhibition Ukraine Guernica, including collaborations with Hellen Rose and Ukrainian artist Ave Libertatemaveamor.
Not long after Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, artist George Gittoes and his partner, musician and performance artist, Hellen Rose, left Australia for Kyiv. During two separate trips to Ukraine, George and Hellen spent time with residents as the cities were being bombed, uncovering their experiences, and documenting the devastated urban and rural landscapes through film, performance and painting. They developed friendships with artists, poets and other creatives in Kyiv, Irpin and Odessa which lead to the development of collaborative works, including the re-birth of the destroyed House of Art in Irpin and the large KISS OF DEATH mural. The most significant work produced during this time has been their new film, Ukraine Guernica - a powerhouse documentary which follows artists behind the frontline, waging a war on war in the face of the Russian Invasion.
The exhibition Ukraine Guernica presented an immersive and arresting experience for visitors highlighting Gittoes unflinching belief in the power of art to counteract war.
Ukraine Guernica cemented Gittoes legacy as one of Australia’s most arresting and urgent figures across art and film.
17 April–14 June 2024
Image: Jumaadi, Joli-Jolan 2022 (detail), paper cut-outs, dimensions variable, installation view as part of The National 4, Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney 2023, © and courtesy of the artist and King Street Gallery on William, Sydney, photo by Silversalt Photography.
Jumaadi is an Indonesian/Australian artist who lives both in Sydney and Yogyakarta and works fluidly across painting, drawing, paper cuts, buffalo hide, performance, animation and installation. Jumaadi's Indigenous Javanese heritage informs his practice, as well as his personal experiences and the colonial and political histories of his homeland. Recent works and performances have addressed passages of water and those whose journeys depend on it. With a poetic sensibility and symbolism, Jumaadi weaves together personal iconographies of human and organic motifs exploring themes of place, conflict and belonging.
12 February–5 April 2024
Image: Laura Skerlj, Cloud (I) 2023, oil on linen, image © and courtesy of the artist.
Deakin University Art Gallery presented Conversations in space, a group exhibition in the form of an inter-generational dialogue between artists and objects in virtual and real spaces. Curated by Deakin’s James Lynch the exhibition presented new works by senior Australian artist Helen Maudsley alongside works by Alex Hobba, Noriko Nakamura and Laura Skerlj. Conversations in space was an interplay between painting, animation and sculptural practices focusing on object relations and their proxies and stand-ins, in a flat time world: where our world view appears constantly moving but much remains the same.
2023
24 October–15 December 2023
Co-curated by Stephen Wickham and Leanne Willis, this exhibition was a celebration of thoughtful engagement with ideas. Text - Re read acknowledged the importance of words, texts, articles and books, from illuminated manuscripts to la poésie concrete, words and the ideas therein that remain central to art-making and its reception.
Much has been said about the inspirational muses and the ‘Eureka moment’ - the flash of insight where sources and origins are revealed and then manifested. This exhibition highlights a slow consideration of the complex relationships between artists, artworks and the ideas embodied in books and many other material sources. Text - Re read was the second exhibition of the Deakin University Centre for Abstract+Non-Objective Art, The Void: Visible. Abstraction & Non-Objective Art being the inaugural in November 2017.
Participating artists include: Andrew Christofides, Tracey Coutts, Janet Dawson, Lesley Dumbrell, Suzie Idiens, Raafat Ishak, Simon Klose, Sean Loughrey, Andrew Rogers, Wilma Tabacco and Stephen Wickham.
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23 August–13 October 2023
The Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award is an annual competition showcasing outstanding sculptures from artists across Australia. An exhibition of finalists' work is held each year in August to October at the Deakin University Art Gallery.
Image: Installation image of the 2023 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University Art Gallery, August 2023, photography Simon Peter Fox.
2023 finalists
Samara Adamson | Ourania Amvrazis | Anindita Banerjee |
Gillian Bencke | Annette Bukovinsky | Melanie Cobham |
Amy Cohen | Emma Coulter | Augustine Dall'Ava |
Julian Di Martino | Naomi Eller | Carly Fischer |
Gail Hastings | Patrick Heath | David Jensz |
Linda Judge | Tala Kaalim | Sam Kariotis |
Alicia King | Jo Lane | Jenna Lee |
Shirley Macnamara | Carolyn Menzies | Dónal Molloy-Drum |
Kendal Murray | Lori Pensini | Kirsteen Pieterse |
Kenny Pittock | Daniel Press | Nina Sanadze |
Louise Skacej | Vipoo Srivilasa | Hiromi Tango |
Natalie Quan Yau Tso | Carmel Wallace | Bettina Willner-Browne |
Alana Wilson | Ching-Yee Wong | Petr Zly |
Simon Zoric |
10 July–11 August 2023
Fayen d’Evie is an artist and writer, born in Malaysia, raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, and now living in the bushlands of Jaara country, Australia. This exhibition celebrated d’Evie’s far reaching and influential practice that explores access as a force of new creative potentialities. Using sound, touch, movement, performance and language d’Evie expands upon the limitations of the visual arts.
The exhibition surveyed recent projects with a range of interdisciplinary collaborators including, among others, performance maker Alex Craig, dancers Benjamin Hancock and Anna Seymour, printmaker Trent Walter, and paintings by the San Francisco-based artist and advocate Jennifer Justice. Curated by James Lynch.
Fayen d’Evie and Trent Walter, Janaleen sings, and hides 2017, tactile screenprint and 3-channel audio description. Printed by Trent Walter, Negative Press. © and courtesy of the artist
10 July–9 August 2023
Paul Laspagis is an accomplished artist who lives and works near Deakin University’s Burwood Campus. Born in Limnos, Greece in 1949 and migrating to Melbourne in 1957, Laspagis studied at the National Gallery Art School with John Brack and Alun Leach-Jones. Laspagis then spent over 10 years working in art education. He is a dedicated artist using oil on canvas, drawings and in print media who has exhibited extensively in Melbourne and overseas.
The works showed two different aspects to this artist’s work: the first being the human figure and second being the landscape. Although the pictures appear abstracted, there are clear visual references to people and place. Laspagis travels to the landscape of the Yarra Valley and works directly on drawings whilst in the bush. He then returns to the studio and translates those drawings into works that celebrate the underlying origin of the structure and form.
Paul Laspagis, Yarra Valley 2017, Oil on canvas, 183 x 130 cm. Collection of the artist, Photography Rodney Denholm © copyright and courtesy of the artist
18 April–9 June 2023
When we inhale and exhale, our bodies transform through the process of inflation and deflation. Drawing on the inflatable form as both material and metaphor, Conflated brought disparate artists together to explore bodies, environments and cultures through contemporary art. Here, the cycle of breathing serves as a framework through which a wide array of experiences, behaviours and expressions are examined.
Conflated was a NETS Victoria touring exhibition, curated by Zoë Bastin and Claire Watson. Participating artists include Zoë Bastin, Andy Butler, David Cross, Bronwyn Hack, Amrita Hepi with Prue Stent and Honey Long, Christopher Langton, Eugenia Lim, James Nguyen and Steven Rhall. This project was assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
13 February–5 April 2023
This exhibition featured artworks by lecturers and teaching staff from Deakin University’s School of Communication and Creative Arts, that were created while they attended art school. Art School Confidential celebrated creative discoveries in all their varied forms and the importance of a creative education experience. It explored the histories of artistic endeavours at the university and the transit of artistic practices over time.
Contributions by Bradley Axiak, Anindita Banerjee, Wendy Beatty, Cameron Bishop, David Cross, Joel Gailer, Tara Gilbee, Simon Grennan, Aaron Hoffman, Victoria Holessis, Penelope Hunt, Todd Johnson, Ilona Jetmar, Katie Lee, Sean Loughrey, Amber Smith, Sorcha Wilcox, Annie Wilson, Bruce Zhou and others.
Curated by James Lynch.
Marta Oktaba, In the studio 2023, ink on paper. © and courtesy of the artist.
This exhibition celebrated the gift and long-term loan of artworks from the family of pioneering art collectors Etta and Emmanuel Hirsh to Deakin University.
Curated by James Lynch, this project highlighted the significance of these leading Naarm/Melbourne collectors of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and their dedication to artists, new ideas, risk taking and the importance of living creative and cultural lives.
Image: Geoffrey PROUD, Nadine and Geoffrey 1967, charcoal and oil on composition board, Deakin University Art Collection. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Irwin Hirsh in memory of Etta and Emmanuel Hirsh, 2021 © Sue Proud and courtesy of Fellia Melas Gallery Sydney
2022
4 October–16 December 2022
Developed by senior lecturer Shane McIver, first year health students reflect on climate change and the environment through photography. All works were produced in 2022 and are digital colour photographs, inkjet printed on Ilford papers.
Image by Kaylah Karwan. Cobblestone laneway surrounded by brick walls covered with weathered posters, an overcast sky looms overhead.
For the 12th year of the award, we were pleased to receive 306 entries, from which 41 works were selected. The external judges were Lyndel Wischer and Robert Hague, with Leanne Willis representing Deakin. Congratulations to our finalists and Scotty So for his winning entry, Surburbkin in Red, 01.
Scotty So, Surburbkin in Red, 01, nylon, metal. Winner of 2022 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award. © and courtesy of the artist
26 August–30 September 2022
Artwork from the Atiq and Nira Rahman Collection.
I Rafiqun Nabi, At Noon in the Field, 2014, Acrylic on Canvas, 89 cm x 89 cm, From the Atiq and Nira Rahman Collection © and courtesy of the artist
19 July–26 August 2022
Holding in the hand was an exhibition featuring newly commissioned and rarely seen artworks by artists Scott Duncan, Marta Oktaba, Rachel Schenberg, Michael Staniak and Evan Whittington. In an era in which direct touch and proximity to others are avoided; holding onto something precious, being held and sensations of tactility have extra meaning. Holding in the hand explores the ways a new generation of emerging artists consider the hand and the haptic as symbolic sites of interface and communication. It investigates the integration of artistic processes, media and materials creating new forms, meta-languages and hyper-surfaces, to better understand our digital and mediated worlds.
Marta OKTABA, Stuck on the internet 2020, ink on found paper. © and courtesy of the artist
24 May–8 July 2022
The Garbage and the Flowers is a collection of painted plastic artworks spanning over fifteen years by artist Sarah Goffman. Disposable PET bottles and single use plastic packaging have been carefully upcycled by Goffman through her creativity and artistic skill since the early two-thousands. Using the histories of ceramic design and decoration to mimic, copy and transform, Goffman recreates objects of desire from the refuse of consumer culture, creating complex artistic artefacts for our time. Curated by James Lynch, Deakin University.
Sarah Goffman, Plastic Arts 2009. PET plastics, acrylic and enamel paint. © and courtesy of the artist. Photo by Mike Myers
5 April–15 May 2022
'There we were all in one place' was an early career survey exhibition of cross-cultural artist Hayley Millar Baker (Gunditjmara). From 2016 to 2019, Hayley Millar Baker produced five photographic series. Made almost exclusively in black and white, the photographs use historical reappropriation and citation, in tandem with digital editing and archival research, to consider human experiences of time, memory and place. Millar Baker’s layered photographic assemblages affirm Aboriginal experience and culture within the Australian imaginary to form a complex image narrative of place, family, identity and survival. Curated by Stella Rosa McDonald, this project was a UTS Gallery and Art Collection Touring exhibition. The exhibition was accompanied by a unique Learning Experience designed by Wiradjuri curator and educator Emily McDaniel in consultation with the artist.
I'm the Captain Now 2016, inkjet on cotton rag, 7 parts, 20 × 20cm (each). Courtesy the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
15 February–25 March 2022
Over the past two decades Naarm/Melbourne based artist Charlie Sofo has used the habitual activities of daily life as forms of poetic expression. This exhibition at the Deakin University Art Gallery featured Sofo’s video and moving image artworks spanning the last ten years. Tutto, the Italian word for everything, explores Sofo’s interest in the over-production of things, where the dream of an abundant life intersects with the nightmare of endless growth. Focusing on the unexceptional moment, Sofo finds pleasure and humour in ordinary desirous things.
Charlie Sofo, 'Undone 2019', digital video still image © Courtesy of the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
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