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Througout the 80s and 90s when much of Victoria was in drought – renowned artist Allan Wolf-Tasker painted the landscape. With a practised brush he created vivid images of country Australia, farmland, drybeds of creeks, rivers and bush.

Now with a studio nestled above the very quiet Baldy’s Beach, Allan takes inspiration from the ever changing majectic coastline of the Great Ocean Road. Although recent in their production, the nature of the paintings is not entirely new; an evolution of the landscape style that was depicted almost 20 years ago with an entirely new perspective.

‘The coastline is invigorating, sometimes threatening and you’re forced to adopt a “Seagullist” view of the ancient formations. This body of work continues my obessession with the aerial perspective a sort of “out of body” view of the world.’ Allan Wolf-Tasker

Allan studied sculpture and printmaking at R.M.I.T graduating in 1966. He has exhibited in group and solo shows in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and New York.

Image: Point Sturt by Allan Wolf-Tasker

Chekhov’s modern masterpiece is brought to life by a unique performance ensemble led by Green Room award-winning director Laurence Strangio. The world of this timeless play is hilarious while it is heartbreaking, endearing while frustrating, and baffling while delightful. Chekhov’s genius lies in shaping despair, longing and frustration into a play about hope and transformation.

A professor riddled with gout and vanity returns to his estate with his trophy wife, and over the course of an autumn, disrupts the lives of its inhabitants.

A brilliant cast of 9 actors, a beautifully crumbling theatre space, a guitar, and a gun.

Directed by Laurence Strangio; Designed by Mattea Davies, Julia Knibbs, & Mia Robinson; Featuring Richard Bligh, Don Bridges, Uschi Felix, Peter Finlay, Brenda Palmer, Sarah Ranken, Louise O’Dwyer and Bruce Woolley with Tom McCathie.

While David Lawrence worked in relative isolation in the latter part of his life, his lifelong commitment to his work as an artist never waned. He worked in various mediums; pencil, charcoal, water color and oil.

His work, particularly in the earlier period, reflected the places he lived and knew. His fascination with the relationship between man and his environment was ongoing.

Curated by his daughter with input from his family, this retrospective exhibition is a celebration of David Lawrance, his life and work.

Image: David (self portrait of the artist) by David Lawrance

Heroism is a cross-cultural and historically persistent phenomenon. Martin Hodge’s latest series of observational drawings and watercolours are inspired by contemporary heroes – a collection of children’s toys and figurines.

As elements of material culture, toys act as role models reflecting values and attitudes of the society in which they are produced. Kangaroo and Lamb are joined by Batman, Horse, Mr. Incredible, Spiderman and Gorvan. Hodge explores the personalities and defining features of characters within this unlikely circle of friends.

Image: Mr. Incredible by Martin Hodge

In conjunction with the exhibition Heroes of Kangaroo and Lamb by Martin Hodge fortyfivedownstairs invites you to participate in a special public program.

Joining us from the art room at Footscray’s Cotton Mills, the lovely Erika Gofton will facilitate a 2 hour observational drawing workshop catering to all levels – from complete beginners through to the more experienced.

The primary focus will be developing good observational drawing practice through a variety of activities, echoing the subject matter of Martin’s exhibition – childhood toys and figurines. Participants will learn to interpret and represent what they observe in front of them, and to build confidence in their ability.

Drawing doesn’t have to be a pastime reserved for child’s play, it’s a skill for life. Re-ignite your prowess with a pencil at fortyfivedownstairs.

All drawing materials will be provided (though participants are welcome to bring their own). Price also includes afternoon tea.

Spaces are filling up. Please book to avoid disappointment.
Email our gallery coordinator sally@fortyfivedownstairs.com
or phone (03) 9662 9966

Now in its third year, the Heartlands Refugee Fine Art Prize is presented by AMES and Multicultural Arts Victoria in partnership with VicHealth, Parks Victoria and the Sidney Myer Foundation.

A total prize pool of $15,000 will be shared by three primary prize-winners, a new arrival prize and eight honourable mentions. First prize is $5,000 plus a solo exhibition and artist in residence opportunity.

Heartlands is part of the Multicultural Arts Victoria’s Emerge Festival from 1 June – 31 July, across Victoria. Emerge will showcase the contribution emerging and refugee communities are having on contemporary arts and culture.

Entries have now closed and works are being short listed for exhibition.

For more information call 03 9188 3681
visit www.multiculturalarts.com.au/heartlands
or email fiesta@multiculturalarts.com.au.

Finucane & Smith, purveyors of the seductive, subversive, and electrifying are back…and this time they’re opening Pandora’s Box! Get ready for the unleashing of the wild ones led by a jaw-dropping Moira/Medusa in the anarchic, erotic and unforgettable THE GLORY BOX! Featuring…

Meow Meow International cabaret kamikaze sensation and ‘cabaret diva of the highest order‘ (The New York Post) (7-17 June)

Miss Behave Olivier Award winner; undisputed worldwide sideshow darling; last surviving female sword swallower in the west;  (20Jun-1Jul)

Anna Lumb Pocket rocket of circus, redhead tinderbox, star of Europe’s demi-monde circus!

Ursula Martinez The woman who turned a red silk hanky strip into a viral frenzy & performed it at Salman Rushdie’s stag night (7-17 June)

Christos Tsiolkas Literary legend (The Slap, Loaded) writes exclusively for Glory Box, brought to life by the Goddess of Grand Guignol.

These legendary, genre-defying acts have set 70,000 audience members around the world in raptures. This travelling emporium fuses demi-monde nightclub with jaw-dropping cabaret; insolent, exotic live art; and seductive spectacle.

For more information on the different types of tickets – Catwalk, General Admission, and Peanut Gallery – click here

Bookings of four automatically reserve a table
(excluding Peanut Gallery tickets)

WIN! A pre-show meal at the Sofitel.

An exhibition celebrating 230+ projects entered in the 2012 Victorian Architecture Awards.

All projects showcased are in the running for an Australian Institute of Architects Award which recognises outstanding architectural endeavour.

Nowhere in Australia is the process of making architecture as celebrated as it is in Victoria, particularly in Melbourne, a city where architecture makes a tangible contribution to the cultural life of the city. This year more entries were submitted than ever before.

An extensive program of public floor talks will accompany the exhibition after the announcement of winners on 29 June 2012.

Further information is available at www.vicawards.architecture.com.au

Three walls. A roof. A floor … And thick black iron bars.

The McNeil Project presents two of Jim McNeil’s best-known plays penned in the Parramatta jail over 30 years ago: The Chocolate Frog and The Old Familiar Juice.

In The Chocolate Frog, two hardened inmates put their new cell mate on trial in this witty commentary on morality and mateship within Australia’s penal system. Then exploring sexuality, ownership and hierarchy, three inmates sneakily concoct a boozy brew that unlocks dormant primal urges in McNeil’s widely regarded masterpiece, The Old Familiar Juice.

Funny, moving and ever provocative, McNeil’s award winning plays put a spotlight on a world acknowledged, but rarely revealed, and highlights the hypocrisy between ‘them’ and ‘us’.

Directed by Malcolm Robertson.  Featuring Cain Thompson, Luke McKenzie, Will Ewing, and Richard Bligh.

A group exhibition by Peter Summers, Troy Mendham, Emma Langridge, Tim Gresham, Louise Blyton and Lynette Smith

The exhibition title alludes to the difficulty of terms; non-representative, reductive, non-objective, non-relational, unconstructed, non-compositional… and to the myriad pathways of abstraction. It suggests an interest in the limits of the visual, and refers to a kind of blindness in historical writing about abstraction in Australian art.

Image: hallelujah by Peter Summers, 152mm x 122mm, Oil on Canvas, 2011