Octopus 22: Baroquetopus (Humanimal entanglements and tentacular spectaculars)

Gertrude Contemporary

21-31 High Street Preston VIC 3072

April 9 - June 5 2022

Initiated in 2001, the Octopus series of exhibitions supports ambitious curatorial practice, through engaging an invited curator annually to develop a project that draws upon their research interests and provides a platform for new forms of exhibition making. Gertrude is pleased to announce the twenty-second exhibition in our annual Octopus series. Octopus 22 is curated by Tessa Laird, artist, writer and Lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies at the School of Art, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.

Laird's exhibition is playfully titled Octopus 22: Baroquetopus (Humanimal entanglements and tentacular spectaculars). Baroquetopus is a neologism uniting human aesthetic languages with the natural world, affirming the continuum of culture in nature, and nature in culture. Just as the Baroque period was one of sensory overload, this exhibition features artworks that activate the senses, as well as immersive visual elements that transform the gallery and foyer spaces of Gertrude Contemporary into a vibrant ecology, fostering sensory, aesthetic, and ethical entanglements.

Artists

Baluk Arts, Gina Bundle, Ivor Cantrill, Debris Facility Pty Ltd, Lichen Kelp, Ani O'Neill, Kate Rohde, Peter Waples-Crowe, Sebastian Wiedemann