The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...

gallery 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 metro ...

, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the

Melbourne Arts Precinct The Melbourne Arts Precinct is home to a series of galleries, performing arts venues and spaces located in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It includes such publicly-funded venues as Arts Centre Melbourne, National ...

, in the

inner suburb ''Inner suburb'' is a term used for a variety of suburban communities that are generally located very close to the centre of a large city (the inner city and central business district). Their urban density is usually lower than the inner city ...

of Southbank. Designed by Wood Marsh Architects, the building was completed in 2002, and includes facilities for Chunky Move dance company and the Malthouse Theatre. Max Delany has been

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the centre since 2015.

History

The centre was established in 1983, and moved into its current home in 2002. In December 2015, Max Delany, formerly senior curator of contemporary art at the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

, was announced as the new artistic director of ACCA, replacing the outgoing artistic director Juliana Engberg. He commenced the role of AD and CEO in February 2016.

Architecture

Australian Center of Contemporary Art (ACCA)- Entrance 2

Australian Center of Contemporary Art (ACCA)- Interior

The ACCA building was designed by Wood Marsh and completed in 2002. It consists of four large gallery spaces, and together with the Malthouse and ACCA form a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

at the centre of the complex which is used as an outside performance and exhibition space. The building also includes two rehearsal studios and an administration facilities for dance company Chunky Move as well as a large

set construction Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a production designer or art director working in collaboration with the director of a production to create a set for a theatric ...

facility for the Malthouse. Openings in the distinctive rusty steel façade are kept to a minimum to support a broad array of installations, temporary and digitally projected work, which contrasts with the inter-pressed metal and glass surfaces in the interior. The design references the European model of the

Kunsthalle A kunsthalle is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, ''Kunsthallen'' are often operated by ...

, acting as a flexible shell for the display of art. The building won the

RAIA (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...

Institutional Architecture Award in 2003.

Sculpture

Following the completion of construction, the sculpture ''

Vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

'', an abstract,

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

sculpture made of large thick flat polygonal sheets of

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term ...

steel by

Ron Robertson-Swann Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann OAM (born 1941, Sydney), is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture '' Vault'' (1980) located in Melbourne, he also known for his sculpture '' Leviathan Play'' (1985), ...

, was relocated to the building's forecourt, where it remains today. It is popularly known as The Yellow Peril, due to its colour,

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

shape, cost, and controversy in the newspapers at the time of its placement.

Description and governance

ACCA's stated mission is to "Do Art Differently – to challenge, connect and resonate". Max Delaney is artistic director and CEO of the centre, while Claire Richardson is executive director. John Denton, the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and t ...

s first state architect, is chair of the board. ACCA is a member of the advocacy organisation

Contemporary Art Organisations Australia The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) is a public art gallery located in the Judith Wright Arts Centre in the Brisbane inner-city suburb of Fortitude Valley, which features contemporary artworks and showcases emerging artists in a series of group an ...

Exhibitions

In its first decade, ACCA had already commissioned over 200 new works by both Australian and International Artists. Every year ACCA commissions six or seven new Australian artists for exhibition. Featured Australian artists have included

Pat Brassington Pat Brassington (born 1942) is an Australian contemporary artist working in the field of digital art, and photography. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, she was named Australia's key surrealist working in photomedia. Brassington's work has been exh ...

Patricia Piccinini Patricia Piccinini (born 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works focus on "unexpected consequences", conv ...

, alongside international artists such as

Martin Creed Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer and performer. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for exhibitions during the preceding year, with the jury praising his audacity for exhibiting a single installation, ''Work No. 22 ...

Barbara Kruger Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist and collagist associated with the Pictures Generation. She is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captio ...

Tacita Dean Tacita Charlotte Dean CBE, RA (born 1965) is a British / German visual artist who works primarily in film. She was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 1998, won the Hugo Boss Prize in 2006, and was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2008. ...

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

and

Joseph Kosuth Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945), an American conceptual artist, lives in New York and London,

. ACCA also presents many thematic exhibitions, as well as public art through initiatives such as the Big Wall project. A survey exhibition of 15 years of works by Paul Yore, titled ''WORD MADE FLESH,'' was held from September to November 2022.

Lecture series

In 2019 a two-year

lecture series A public lecture (also known as an open lecture) is one means employed for educating the public in the arts and sciences. The Royal Institution has a long history of public lectures and demonstrations given by prominent experts in the field. I ...

entitled ''Defining Moments: Australian Exhibition Histories 1968–1999'' was launched, intended to "take a deeper look at the moments that have shaped Australian art since 1968... the game changers in Australian art... addressing key contemporary art exhibitions staged over the last three decades of the twentieth century", and examining how they have affected

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

and, more broadly, Australian culture in the 21st century. In 2020, former director of the

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, formerly known as Gallery 4A, 4A Galleries, Asia-Australia Arts Centre and also known simply as 4A, is an Australian independent not-for-profit organisation based in the Haymarket area of Sydney, New South ...

Mikala Tai talked about the founding of Gallery 4A, the inaugural exhibition in 1997, and its impact on contemporary art discourse. Former director of the

Institute of Modern Art The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) is a public art gallery located in the Judith Wright Arts Centre in the Brisbane inner-city suburb of Fortitude Valley, which features contemporary artworks and showcases emerging artists in a series of group an ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and artist Peter Cripps co-presented ''Recession art and other strategies'', referring to the name of a 1985 exhibition at the IMA.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Melbourne Contemporary art galleries in Australia 2002 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Southbank, Victoria