Art Museum

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Art and Violence

Violence has figured prominently in (Western) art from the Renaissance to Mannerist crucifixion paintings through to Goya and Picasso. Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Art and Violence however does not present explicit depictions of violent acts, rather the suggestion of violence. The exhibition deals with 'difficult' subject matter; subject matter that is uncomfortable because it confronts the viewer with references to, or suggestions of, violence or specific violent events. The stillness of the works forces the viewer to re-enact and thereby experience some sense of this violence, cruelty and danger. Even if momentarily seduced by the beauty of the work, such as that of Fiona Lowry, eX de Medici's or William Kelly, they rudely jolt the viewer back to the unpleasant reality of the events to which they refer.

Two Way Traffic

Two waves of emigrants arrived in Australia from Europe during the middle decades of the twentieth century, each one distinctly different in its origins of displacement. The first wave of human traffic from the Diaspora was a result of the European crisis of Nazism and Fascism, with many of European 'enemy aliens' arriving via official military transport. The second post-war phase of immigration brought a much larger number of skilled labourers and artisans attracted to a new life in a country that promised many opportunities within its social, economic, educational and cultural reconstruction programmes.

Within both of these tides arrived artists who contributed to the cultural and artistic development of Australian art and culture. Indeed, the two decades between 1940 and 1960 belong in many ways to the Europeans, and this exhibition looks at works by some of those émigré artists who became a vibrant force in modern Australian art.

Guest curator: Sheridan Palmer

Eddie Kneebone: Bones of Contention

Eddie 'Kookaburra' Kneebone tells the 100 year story of Colonial settlement and its impact on the indigenous clans of the North East and Upper Murray region of Victoria in his epic work Bones of Contention. A compelling representation of what is often referred to as our 'idden history', the exhibition is a work of enormous strength and emotional impact. "If the land could be painted as bleeding" wrote Eddie, "then it truly did bleed with the blood of Indigenous men, women and children… The land truly did bleed, and their bones fell like rain."

Completed in December 2005 just before his untimely death, the work formed a part of Eddie's studies toward an award of Master of Education at RMIT and his role as artist-in-residence at Wodonga Institute of TAFE.

La Trobe Lifeskills: BUG

La Trobe Lifeskills is one of Victoria’s leading providers of nationally-recognised courses to young people with disabilities and impairments. BUG showcases the work of students involved in La Trobe Lifeskills' art program. The exhibition is a creative investigation by these artists, inspired by our little creative friends from the insect world.

Vera Möller: Neomorphics (Neugemüse)

Vera Möller's art explores the region where the real meets the imagined and the constructed encounters the natural. Delving into her knowledge gained through her studies as a biologist, her work contemplates life forms yet to be identified or discovered. Möller considers specimens that might evolve naturally in the future, and reflects on organisms that could possibly be created with the aid of biotechnology. Neomorphics (Neugemüse) includes a selection of collages, watercolours and sculptures, many shown for the first time, inviting us into a special world of wonder, amazement and study.

Emblems: La Trobe University Visual Arts and Design 2008 Honours Exhibition

Emblems presents the works of 2008 Honours Graduates from the La Trobe University School of Visual Arts and Design. Studio disciplines include fine art, design and photojournalism, ceramics, drawing, graphics, illustration, multimedia, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. The courses emphasise the interconnectedness of theory and practice and provide opportunities for inter-disciplinary studies. For the first time the cohort includes students from the School's Mildura campus.

The exhibition represents every one of a large number of individuals with an emblematic image representing their folio of work. The works inspire contemplation and enquiry, paralleling the conscientious craft, passionate devotion and intellectual investigation of its creator.

*Closed between 19 December 2008 – 12 January 2009

This way up: Abstract works from the La Trobe University Art Collection

Throughout art history Abstractionism has taken many forms. Australian artists, like their overseas peers, have been part of this continually changing dialogue. This Way Up: Abstract works from the La Trobe University Art Collection documents key post war abstract movements as represented in the La Trobe University Art Collection. The exhibition includes works by notable Australian abstractionists including George Johnson, Roger Kemp and Dale Hickey.