Monash University Collection: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions

Since its foundation, Monash University has made a significant commitment to the patronage, scholarship and advancement of the visual arts, through the establishment of the Monash University Collection in 1961 and the development of the Monash University Museum of Art, which began as the Monash University Gallery in 1975.

With its focus upon contemporary Australian art since the 1960s, the Monash University Collection is of national significance. In 2007, its collection numbered 1500 works, representing artistic practices across a wide variety of media, and displaying outstanding currency, depth and diversity. In publicity for this exhibition, MUMA characterised its collection as ‘a major, forward-looking and adventurous collection of innovative and experimental works’, with the exhibition presenting a selection of works acquired in the previous three years. During this time, MUMA continued its commitment to the work of younger emerging artists, while also achieving ambitious acquisitions of major works by Australia’s leading artists.

Visitors to the exhibition were given the opportunity to see a diverse range of works across a wide range of media, locations and cultural contexts, including the major 2006 work by Daniel von Sturmer, The Field Equation and Nick Mangan's towering yet intricate Colony, 2005. Also included was a recent body of work by Tom Nicholson, After Action for Another Library, a project where Nicholson photographed the title pages of hundreds of books that were donated to the East Timorese people following the recent struggle for independence.

In another gallery were bright, luscious paintings by Kumpaya Girgirba, Angela Brennan and Dadda Sampson; luminescent sculptures by Robert Owen and James Lynch; offset monochromatic drawings and floor sculptures by Mira Gojak; Dennis Nona's body-scaled linocut Baidam: Shark Constellation, 2006, and Gabriella and Silvana Mangano's enchanting video work If...So...Then, 2006.

Public Programs:
Meet the Artists at MUMA, Saturday 16 Feb

^{Image: Monash University Collection: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions, installation view, 2007}