Collective Space: Works from the Monash University Collection

About the exhibition
This exhibition brought together works from the Monash University Collection to explore how real, symbolic and metaphorical spaces impact our understanding of place, culture, and the body and the mind. As curator Zara Stanhope notes, ‘Space is not a timeless and placeless universe but a physical and psychological product/producer of social experience.’

Artists such as Tony Clark, Domenico de Clario and Bonita Ely examined different interpretations of landscape, while Stephen Bush, Tim Johnson and Imants Tillers addressed the construction and reception of cultural identity. Issues surrounding the body and gender were explored through the work of Adrienne Gaha, Jan Nelson and Jacqueline Riva.

The exhibition also included a chronological presentation of minimalist abstract paintings from the Collection, with contemporary interventions in the field of abstraction by artists such as Mark Galea, Melinda Harper and Brent Harris positioned alongside a review of works by major Melbourne artists from the 1960s, including Ian Burn, Robert Hunter and Michael Johnson.

MUMA Online Exhibition Archive
MUMA’s online archive is expanding. We welcome your feedback and input. Please contact muma.communications@monash.edu with any information that could help enrich the archive for future audiences.

^{Image: Catalogue cover featuring black-and-white reproduction of Chris Barry, Nocturne 1 1987–1988, type C photograph (colour), 127 x 127 cm}