Melbourne is the first city where I've made a serious effort to visit contemporary art galleries, after Istanbul. And there's a thriving scene here. Just based on the few shows that I saw, this is a town that loves conceptual art.
One of these shows is "And the difference is..." at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy. Of the pieces on exhibit, the one that engaged me most was Danielle Freakley's piece, "Forced English." In it, different segments of what sounds like Chinese listening tapes are transliterated and the sounds are "translated" into English. Of course it turns out complete gobbledygook, and you have to further use your imagination since the sounds match up with Australian English. Upstairs from the gallery are different artists' studios, some of which are open at different times it seems. (Through June 20)
My favorite Fitzroy/Collingwood/Abbotsford neighborhoods have a bunch of other galleries, and what's cool is that they're mixed in with a lot of small industry craftspeople. Like furniture makers and bicycle makers. It was cool peeking into these small workspaces seeing stuff being made.
Another exhibit worth checking out is the Tacita Dean show at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (through August 2). Literally very dark.
