ART WALK No.3 (Melbourne) Nior at No Vacancy Gallery, True self at GPO Melbourne and interesting finds in Fitzroy

This is part of my weekly posts about art in the city I visit, mostly in Melbourne, as well as the cities I visit during my holidays.

Events I’m attending this week:

• Mikala Dwyer at ACCA (My artist friend really wanted to see this)
• Netsuke : The Art of Miniature Sculpture at Lesley Kehoe Galleries (Just discovered this gallery specialise in Japanese artists)
• Disquiet at Flinders Lane Gallery (It’s a sold out show, have to see it)
• Joel Zika at Dianne Tanzer Gallery (He was my tutor in Monash)
• The Jess Trap & The Ice Shaver at CCP (Centre for contemporary photography) (Haven’t been to this place, the promo images look good)
• Escaping Melbourne weather, off to Queensland!

First of all, Nior’s solo show at No Vacancy Gallery was the highlight of the day. I just love looking at his work, so precise, so many tiny details. I had a little chat with Nior himself, very nice guy, he does all the woodwork himself! That’s quite a nice skill to have when you are an artist Overall it’s a very successful show, one of my friends even bought one piece. More photos here.

Nior’s solo show “Outside assembly” at No Vacancy Gallery project space at Fed Square

I have been seeing ads for True self at GPO Melbourne non stop for the last few week, and finally it’s here. It was presented very well, so I learned few things about gallery space design. It’s very nice of GPO to organise this, I think any successful commercial buildings should support local artists with their empty space. More photos here.

Group show “True Self” at GPO Melbourne

Yes, that’s right, a giant ring! It’s as big as my face, maybe bigger. It’s Precious things by Laurel Kohut at LOOP bar. Personally I love her work, but I don’t think LOOP bar is a good exhibition place to show them off, hence the horrible photo. More photos here.

Precious things by Laurel Kohut at Loop Bar

As I was navigating through Smith St in Fitzroy, I found an awesome vintage shop only opened for a little more than one year. You will find all sort of quirky and sexy things at Oonkas Boonkas. I met the couple Matt and Dianne. Matt is from America, that kind of explained why I saw so many vintage American collectables lying around. Dianne is an artist who likes to paint pin up ladies, definitely worth checking it out! You will find photos of their fancy dress parties on their Facebook page.

A giant cut out clown at Oonkas Boonkas on Smith St

My friend from Shanghai, who is working here for short 4 months, joined me for the whole afternoon. We checked out some illustration at Off the Kerb before heading for some healthy dinner. I’d like to take a photo and show you how cute the Spud Bar Fitzroy boy was, but then I might look like a pervert doing so. Instead, you can look at this illustration by Dominic Sowersby and imagine how cute the boy was.

Illustration by Dominic Sowersby