Artists Space Gallery was an Australian art gallery showing mainly photography, as well as other media, through the 1980s in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Foundation

The gallery was founded in 1978 by Melbourne painter and photographer Wes Placek. He was joined in the early 80's by his partner Sophie Nowicka a textile designer and artist, who assisted in administration of the gallery and in curatorial selection of exhibitions.

Location

When it opened, the gallery occupied the top floor of a 1920s shopfront in the main street at 127 Buckley St., near the railway station in the working-class suburb

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

. In 1987 the Gallery was relocated, closer to Melbourne CBD and amongst a growing number of other galleries. Though it also showed other media, it was among contemporary specialist photography galleries

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

, Brummels and Church Street that revived the medium as an art form. The new space, with four times the floor area,Beatrice Faust, 'Getting enough space is only half the job,' ''The Age'', Wednesday, 19 Aug 1987, p.14 was in a former warehouse in

North Fitzroy Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cites of Merri-bek and Yarra local government areas. Fitzroy North recorded a population of 12,7 ...

at 150 Park Street on the corner of Best Street, opposite a

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...

created from the

Inner Circle Railway Line The Inner Circle Line was a steam era suburban railway line (later electrified) in Melbourne, Australia. It served the inner-northern suburbs of Parkville, Carlton North, Fitzroy North, and Fitzroy. At its closure, it ran from Royal Par ...

which had closed in 1981.

Reception

A range of exhibitions included emerging artists and those well recognised nationally and internationally. While located in Essendon, in the opinion of ''The Age'' newspaper art reviewer

Beatrice Faust Beatrice Eileen Faust (19 February 1939 – 30 October 2019) was an Australian author and women's activist. In 1966 she was president of the Victorian Abortion Law Repeal Association. She was also a co-founder of the Women's Electoral Lobby i ...

, Placek's exhibitions "accumulated a lot of critical capital," as it "showed small collections of consistently good and sometimes excellent work," including

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe (; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-p ...

's 1983 photogravure suite 'Flowers', and also

Bettina Rheims Bettina Caroline Germaine Rheims (; born 18 December 1952) is a French photographer. Career Early stages Bettina Rheims was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Her photographic career began in 1978, when she took a series of photos of a group of strip- ...

. However, in her 1987 review, just after the relocation, Faust feared the extra space would affect the quality of the work shown, though favourable reviews continued. It signifies the impact of the Gallery, that founder Placek was himself included, among many of the past exhibitors at Artists Space, in the landmark survey show and publication of photography of the 1970s and 1980s, ''The Thousand Mile Stare''.

Closure

Artists Space Gallery closed in 1990.

Exhibitions included

* 1984: Ryszard Otręba, prints (the poster from this solo exhibition is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia) * 1986, October 11–November 9: Sol Weiner *1986, November 17–December 14: ''Displaced Objects - Works by Chris Barry'' * 1987, to August 30: Lauren McIntyre * 1987, from Nov 4: ''"Just Wot”, an exhibition of visual poetry''. Incl.

Mimmo Cozzolino Mimmo (Domenico) Cozzolino is an Australian graphic designer and photo media artist best known for his gently satirical design and research on Australian historic trademarks. Early life Domenico Cozzolino was born 1949 in Ercolano, Naples, Ital ...

, Norma Pearce, Anthony Figallo, Julie Clarke-Powell *1987, to 31 December: ''Urban Structures'', Janina Green, Lita Los Angeles, Bernice McPherson, Craig McGee, Wes Placek. * 1988, to 29 Feb: Michael Caddy, Di Clark, Ann Slater * 1988, 3–27 August: Wes Placek, Paintings * 1988, 7–25 September: Portraits by Paul Cox, Ben Lewin,

Wolfgang Sievers Wolfgang Georg Sievers, AO (18 September 1913 – 7 August 2007) was an Australian photographer who specialised in architectural and industrial photography. Early life and career Sievers was born in Berlin, Germany. His father was Profes ...

* 1988, September: ''Double Exposure'' * 1988, to October 29: Peter Shaw, ''A Year of Bad Weather''''Good Weekend'', ''The Age'', Saturday 08 Oct 1988,p.67 * 1988, to 22 October: Louis Geraldes and Graham Willoughby, Paintings * 1988, to 18 November: Anthony Figallo and Lloyd Jones; ''Images of La Mama'', and ''Photographic Collages by Chris Barry'' * 1988, to 18 December: ''Graduate Show, Victoria College'' * 1989, to April 7: ''Still Life'', photography by Janina Green, Robert Mapplethorpe, Wes Placek, Bettina Rheims''The Age'', Friday, Mar 31, 1989, p.40 * 1989, to 29 July: Wes Placek, ''Works from the kitchen''

, ‘Exhibitions with a touch of the unusual,’ ''The Age'', Thursday, Jul 6, 1989, p.14 *1989, 6—31 August: Grant Hobson, ''Transcending Toughness'', and work by Paul WatkinsMurphy, Carmel. Male order: The photographic series from conception to practice nline Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 79, Autumn 1989: 26-29. Availability: ISSN: 0312-2654. ited 16 May 20 * 1990, to 28 July: ''Kodak Five Visions,'' Bill McCann, Charles Radnay, Janina Green, Wes Placek * 1990, to August 25: Ian McIntosh ‘Affection’; Rick Wood ‘Fugue’Greg Neville, ‘A world of fragments and isolated parts,’ ''The Age'', Thursday, 09 Aug 1990, p.16 * 1990, to November 30: ''Phillip Institute of Technology 1990 Photography Graduates'' *1990, to December 22, Paintings and sculptures by Wes Placek, Erika Vike, Sophie Nowicka, Graham Willoughby, Brian McNamaraListing, ''The Age'', Friday 14 Dec 1990, p.44

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artists Space Gallery 1978 establishments in Australia 1990 disestablishments in Australia Art museums and galleries established in 1978 Art museums and galleries disestablished in 1990 Art museums and galleries in Melbourne Photography museums and galleries in Australia