Alex Pittendrigh completed a degree in painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994, was awarded an Australia Council residency at The British School in Rome and was a resident artist at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces. In his series of three artworks, 'Worlds through worlds III', 'Worlds through worlds IV' and 'Phenomenon', the scenes appear as if extricated through a kind of portal or void. They are landscapes as imagined or perhaps remembered, ‘pictured’ in the mind’s eye. Seen as an exercise in rococo excess and ornamentation, these artworks suggest a tension between the ornamental and pictorial. The decorative filigree within the painted surface set these scenes further away from the real world. They are ideal, and idealised, places that remain at a distance.In this dark landscape-like image, pale pink and yellow feather forms float around a shadowy central volcano-like shape. The image is reminiscent of a 18th century textile design. Acrylic and ink on linen.stonnington contemporary art collection, painting, alex pittendrigh, memory, landscape

Alex Pittendrigh completed a degree in painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994, was awarded an Australia Council residency at The British School in Rome and was a resident artist at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces. In his series of three artworks, 'Worlds through worlds III', 'Worlds through worlds IV' and 'Phenomenon', the scenes appear as if extricated through a kind of portal or void. They are landscapes as imagined or perhaps remembered, ‘pictured’ in the mind’s eye. Seen as an exercise in rococo excess and ornamentation, these artworks suggest a tension between the ornamental and pictorial. The decorative filigree within the painted surface set these scenes further away from the real world. They are ideal, and idealised, places that remain at a distance.In this dark landscape-like image, feather forms in pale greens and yellow float around a shadowy central volcano-like shape. The image is reminiscent of a 18th century textile design. Acrylic and ink on linen.stonnington contemporary art collection, painting, alex pittendrigh, landscape, memory

Alex Pittendrigh completed a degree in painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994, was awarded an Australia Council residency at The British School in Rome and was a resident artist at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces. In his series of three artworks, 'Worlds through worlds III', 'Worlds through worlds IV' and 'Phenomenon', the scenes appear as if extricated through a kind of portal or void. They are landscapes as imagined or perhaps remembered, ‘pictured’ in the mind’s eye. Seen as an exercise in rococo excess and ornamentation, these artworks suggest a tension between the ornamental and pictorial. The decorative filigree within the painted surface set these scenes further away from the real world. They are ideal, and idealised, places that remain at a distance.In this dark landscape-like image, viewed from above, is a central pale yellow shape, bordered irregularly by twig-like forms, which is perhaps the earth, shone on by a moon in the top right. Ornamental vegetation - leaves, grapes - appear to be spinning off the earth into corners or out of the frame. Acrylic and ink on linen.stonnington contemporary art collection, painting, alex pittendrigh, landscape, memory

Rennie Ellis was an award-winning photographer celebrated for his photographs of life and culture in Melbourne. Ellis struck fame in the 1980’s for his societal photography for high profile magazines. This put him in high demand by the rich and famous to record their flamboyant parties, and in turn he changed the course of social photography in Australia. Ellis lived and worked in Stonnington with a home and studio in Prahran. In the 1970’s, he opened his own photographic gallery, Brummels Gallery, in South Yarra. Ellis’ work in Stonnington reads like an iconic historical archive of happenings and people, a recollection and celebration of human activity.stonnington contemporary art collection, photography, social history, rennie ellis, harold holt, pool

Rennie Ellis was an award-winning photographer celebrated for his photographs of life and culture in Melbourne. Ellis struck fame in the 1980’s for his societal photography for high profile magazines. This put him in high demand by the rich and famous to record their flamboyant parties, and in turn he changed the course of social photography in Australia. Ellis lived and worked in Stonnington with a home and studio in Prahran. In the 1970’s, he opened his own photographic gallery, Brummels Gallery, in South Yarra. Ellis’ work in Stonnington reads like an iconic historical archive of happenings and people, a recollection and celebration of human activity.stonnington contemporary art collection, photography, social history, rennie ellis, toorak, salon

‘This is a beautiful landscape in sandhills country after rain. We went hunting for echidna and goanna and looking for witchetty grubs and bush potatoes.’ Artwork acquired as part of a project between City of Stonnington and World Vision.stonnington contemporary art collection, first peoples, painting, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, landscape, susie ngwarrey peterson

‘This is a soakage that has been around for a long time. Four ladies are collecting their water in coolamons. They have digging sticks with them from hunting and now they are getting water.’ This artwork was acquired as part of a project between City of Stonnington and World Vision.Epenarra is a remote indigenous community 220kms South East of Tennant Creek, Northern Territory.Framed artwork. Acrylic on canvas.There is a registration label on the back. 'Kwaty Nagenty' handwritten in texta on the canvas, registration label on the back. NOTE: two works cite the same Mossgreen catalogue number.stonnington contemporary art collection, first peoples, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, painting, water, jessie akemarr beasley jr.

‘Cockatoos go and get food from the trees, seeds, conkaberry and bush beans. Cockatoos live near the creek.’ This artwork was acquired as part of a project between City of Stonnington and World Vision. Epenarra is a remote indigenous community 220kms South East of Tennant Creek, Northern Territory.Framed artwork. Mossgreen catalogue # 9 with certificate of authenticity World Vision. Acrylic on canvas.Canvas is titled on the back. NOTE: two works cite the same Mossgreen catalogue number.stonnington contemporary art collection, first peoples, painting, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, jessie akemarr beasley jr., cockatoo

stonnington contemporary art collection, first peoples, sculpture, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, goanna, arluwetyerra, epenarra, kay beasley, susie ngwarrey peterson, jessie akemarr beasley jr.

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made. stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

Marco Fusinato’s ongoing series titled Mass Black Implosions is suite of drawings that represent the physical materiality of sound. He transforms avant-garde musical compositions from such figures as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and here, Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras, into new graphical interpretations resembling collapsing galaxies. The systematic connection of individual notes to central points within the notation reconfigures the temporal and sequential reading of scores. Instead, Fusinato proposes a kind of sonic implosion in which all notes are played simultaneously. Marco Fusinato is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. His work questions and re-configures accepted cultural forms and concepts, laying bare their construction and exploring how those worlds are made.stonnington contemporary art collection, music, sound, materiality, work on paper, marco fusinato

John Nixon is known for consistently championing the contemporary relevance and aesthetics of early Modernism’s motifs and strategies: Minimalism, the monochrome, Constructivism, Non-Objective art are just some of his reference points. Conceptually, he is driven by investigative experimentation expressed through an economy of means. Nixon argues for an expansive vision for painting that extends painting into real space, and against the notions of narrative, illusion or expressiveness as the functions of art. This body of painting employs either random or ordered arrangements of colours and geometric shapes selected according to specific systems devised by the artist. The task is to make dynamic artworks, to challenge and excite the viewer.stonnington contemporary art collection, painting, modernism, minimalism, constructivism, geometric, john nixon

Nathan Gray is an artist and experimental musician whose work is optimistic, dynamic and festive. It is often characterised by its utopian or optimistic tones, and dynamic physical construction. Gray builds incredible structures from humble materials, and complex networks from simple ideas. His practice incorporates a multitude of process-based elements, often using a method that parallels brainstorming or mind mapping, in an attempt to explore links between craft, sound, culture and ecology. stonnington contemporary art collection, nathan gray, sculpture, mixed media, utopian, ecology

Carly Fischer’s painstakingly assembled paper sculptures mediate on the knife edge between reality and staged reality, reproduction and it’s re-absorption as the real. In the era of reality TV, viewers we are become increasingly aware of an ability to manufacture the real: even as we tidy our own lounge rooms before friends visit: which coffee table books shall we have on display? Fischer’s work commodifies everyday detritus. She cleanses it of its reality residue, polishes its rough edges, and re-presents it to us as desirable, miniature, flawless. As Fischer notes, ‘In the installation, paper/board model replicas of broken household objects assume their places carefully in a junk pile, presenting themselves as perfect but precarious possibilities.’ Carly Fischer was born in 1978 in Melbourne. She studied Painting at RMIT University before undertaking Honours in Sculpture in 2000. She has undertaken residencies in Berlin and LA, and currently lives and works in Melbourne.stonnington contemporary art collection, assemblage, sculpture, miniature, replica, carly fischer

Carly Fischer’s painstakingly assembled paper sculptures mediate on the knife edge between reality and staged reality, reproduction and it’s re-absorption as the real. In the era of reality TV, viewers we are become increasingly aware of an ability to manufacture the real: even as we tidy our own lounge rooms before friends visit: which coffee table books shall we have on display? Fischer’s work commodifies everyday detritus. She cleanses it of its reality residue, polishes its rough edges, and re-presents it to us as desirable, miniature, flawless. As Fischer notes, ‘In the installation, paper/board model replicas of broken household objects assume their places carefully in a junk pile, presenting themselves as perfect but precarious possibilities.’ Carly Fischer was born in 1978 in Melbourne. She studied Painting at RMIT University before undertaking Honours in Sculpture in 2000. She has undertaken residencies in Berlin and LA, and currently lives and works in Melbourne.stonnington contemporary art collection, sculpture, carly fischer, assemblage, miniature, replica

Carly Fischer’s painstakingly assembled paper sculptures mediate on the knife edge between reality and staged reality, reproduction and it’s re-absorption as the real. In the era of reality TV, viewers we are become increasingly aware of an ability to manufacture the real: even as we tidy our own lounge rooms before friends visit: which coffee table books shall we have on display? Fischer’s work commodifies everyday detritus. She cleanses it of its reality residue, polishes its rough edges, and re-presents it to us as desirable, miniature, flawless. As Fischer notes, ‘In the installation, paper/board model replicas of broken household objects assume their places carefully in a junk pile, presenting themselves as perfect but precarious possibilities.’ Carly Fischer was born in 1978 in Melbourne. She studied Painting at RMIT University before undertaking Honours in Sculpture in 2000. She has undertaken residencies in Berlin and LA, and currently lives and works in Melbourne.stonnington contemporary art collection, assemblage, miniature, replica, carly fischer, sculpture

Maree Clarke is a multi-disciplinary artist from Mildura in northwest Victoria, living and working in Melbourne. Her continuing desire to affirm and reconnect with her cultural heritage makes her a pivotal figure in the reclamation of southeast Australian Aboriginal art practices, reviving elements of Aboriginal culture that were lost over the period of colonisation. In addition to modern genres including sculpture, multimedia and photography, Clarke’s expansive practice also encompasses contemporary forms of traditional practices such as possum skin cloaks, kangaroo teeth necklaces, and string headbands adorned with kangaroo teeth and echidna quills.stonnington contemporary art collection, first peoples, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, cultural identity, cultural heritage, post colonialism, maree clarke, mixed media

Having refined his technique of painting on the reverse side of glass, David Jolly has achieved critical acclaim as an articulate drawer and painter. His work ruminates on the role of the artist as witness and reporter. He pairs rich colour and extraordinary detail with the glossy seductiveness of the glass surface. It presents a compelling encounter between the luminous dimensionality of glass and the textureless, mirror-like surfaces of screen culture. The series Artist’s Proof #1 illustrates before and after scenes of the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Albert Park Lake. Characteristic of Jolly, the works focus not on the spectacle of the race but the casual imagery of its inconsequential incidents, scenes and moments. Props III and Lakehouse exemplify of this approach. While able to be read as singularly abstract compositions, Meatball and Surface are in fact transcriptions of motor racing flags that signal hazards or the need for an immediate pit-stop.Against a big clouded blue sky and a backdrop of trees and a field (perhaps a sports field), the foreground shows stacks of tyres, metal poles, tall metal barricades, square storage bins and pipes. Titled, signed and dated by the artist: top left, back, in blue ink.stonnington contemporary art collection, painting, david jolly, albert park lake, formula 1, grand prix, motor racing

David Noonan is a London-based Australian artist with a growing international reputation. He studied art in Ballarat before moving to Melbourne in 1992 to complete his education at the Victorian College of the Arts. Noonan art is known for its complex layers of historical, theatrical and cultural references. Animals, actors and masked figures are recurring motifs that imbue his art with a magical atmosphere that is suggestive of childhood memories or half-forgotten dreams. Noonan has begun to treat his imagery - found and created - as a sculptural material. Drawing from an interest in historical Japanese ‘boro’ textiles, in which indigo-dyed, cotton fabrics are reused and recycled, Noonan collages the fabric beneath the image, and in so doing, manipulates the image itself. Here, his muse’s face bears a painted mask, a device traditionally used to reveal as much it disguises, a play on the nature of truth. stonnington contemporary art collection, silkscreen, collage, david noonan, theatre, textiles, mask

Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower 2009 is a sprawling, cinematic view of Melbourne’s CBD. In his Light Cities series, Stephenson explores notions of human and technological achievement against environmental sustainability. The glowing city in Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower seems the perfect emblem of our industrialized culture: an extraordinary example of a monumental technological sublime, where awe, beauty, and human aspiration are tinged with potential environmental catastrophe ¬– our engine of modernity seemingly running on empty. Melbourne, in particular, with its bay surrounding the city, makes it highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. Stephenson’s work, therefore, gives further urgency to a close scrutiny of the evolving modern city. Stephenson moved to Australia in 1982 to teach photography at the University of Tasmania School of Art, where he completed his PhD in Fine Art in 2001. He lives and works in Hobart.For more than 30 years, David Stephenson has travelled the globe, producing startlingly beautiful landscapes and cityscapes that illuminate or allude to that which cannot normally be seen. A fascination for the vast in space and time has led him to Europe, the Himalayas, and both the Arctic and Antarctic. He is one of Australia’s most well known and celebrated contemporary photographers with a practice that focuses on the sublime in architecture and in nature.stonnington contemporary art collection, photography, urban, city, industrialisation, modernity, cinematic, environmental, david stephenson, melbourne

Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower 2009 is a sprawling, cinematic view of Melbourne’s CBD. In his Light Cities series, Stephenson explores notions of human and technological achievement against environmental sustainability. The glowing city in Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower seems the perfect emblem of our industrialized culture: an extraordinary example of a monumental technological sublime, where awe, beauty, and human aspiration are tinged with potential environmental catastrophe ¬– our engine of modernity seemingly running on empty. Melbourne, in particular, with its bay surrounding the city, makes it highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. Stephenson’s work, therefore, gives further urgency to a close scrutiny of the evolving modern city. Stephenson moved to Australia in 1982 to teach photography at the University of Tasmania School of Art, where he completed his PhD in Fine Art in 2001. He lives and works in Hobart.For more than 30 years, David Stephenson has travelled the globe, producing startlingly beautiful landscapes and cityscapes that illuminate or allude to that which cannot normally be seen. A fascination for the vast in space and time has led him to Europe, the Himalayas, and both the Arctic and Antarctic. He is one of Australia’s most well known and celebrated contemporary photographers with a practice that focuses on the sublime in architecture and in nature.stonnington contemporary art collection, photography, urban, city, industrialisation, modernity, cinematic, environmental, melbourne, david stephenson

Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower 2009 is a sprawling, cinematic view of Melbourne’s CBD. In his Light Cities series, Stephenson explores notions of human and technological achievement against environmental sustainability. The glowing city in Melbourne looking east from the Rialto Tower seems the perfect emblem of our industrialized culture: an extraordinary example of a monumental technological sublime, where awe, beauty, and human aspiration are tinged with potential environmental catastrophe ¬– our engine of modernity seemingly running on empty. Melbourne, in particular, with its bay surrounding the city, makes it highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. Stephenson’s work, therefore, gives further urgency to a close scrutiny of the evolving modern city. Stephenson moved to Australia in 1982 to teach photography at the University of Tasmania School of Art, where he completed his PhD in Fine Art in 2001. He lives and works in Hobart.For more than 30 years, David Stephenson has travelled the globe, producing startlingly beautiful landscapes and cityscapes that illuminate or allude to that which cannot normally be seen. A fascination for the vast in space and time has led him to Europe, the Himalayas, and both the Arctic and Antarctic. He is one of Australia’s most well known and celebrated contemporary photographers with a practice that focuses on the sublime in architecture and in nature.stonnington contemporary art collection, urban, city, industrialisation, modernity, cinematic, environmental, melbourne, david stephenson

James Tylor’s practice examines racial and cultural identity in Australian contemporary society and social history. He explores Australian cultural representation through his multi-racial heritage comprising Aboriginal, English, and Maori Australian ancestry. This interest is informed using these media in that era to document Indigenous Australian and Maori culture. Tylor reminds us of what has been removed from the view of the Australian landscape, and reflects on the limitations of the romantic landscape tradition itself - the tensions between Australian and Indigenous histories. Digital print on Hahnemühle paperstonnington contemporary art collection, landscape, cultural identity, first peoples, post colonialism, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, mixed media, photography, james tylor

James Tylor’s practice examines racial and cultural identity in Australian contemporary society and social history. He explores Australian cultural representation through his multi-racial heritage comprising Aboriginal, English, and Maori Australian ancestry. This interest is informed using these media in that era to document Indigenous Australian and Maori culture. Tylor reminds us of what has been removed from the view of the Australian landscape, and reflects on the limitations of the romantic landscape tradition itself - the tensions between Australian and Indigenous histories.Digital print on Hahnemühle paperstonnington contemporary art collection, landscape, cultural identity, first peoples, post colonialism, first nations, indigenous, aboriginal torres strait islander, mixed media, photography, james tylor