If you’re looking for a free outing in Melbourne, pay a visit to the National Gallery of Victoria in the city.

The NGV houses an extensive collection of art from Europe, Asia, America and Oceania. It has permanent displays as well as a large ground-floor space and other areas used for temporary exhibitions.

The building is surrounded by a moat and fountains, and a sculpture called Really Good sits at the main entrance. The sculpture created by David Shrigley is intended as a satirical gesture, an exaggerated universal thumbs up symbol.

Before you enter the gallery, you walk past the water wall where water cascades down the glass front and creates a filter between the hustle and bustle of the city and the calm secluded ambiance of the gallery.

On the ground floor are two large scale sculptures by British artist, Thomas J Price. The sculptures are called Reaching out and All in, and both works challenge stereotypes and point to the lack of people of colour in public statuary.

At the rear of NGV International is a sculpture garden, which hosts an annual large-scale installation through the NGV Architecture Commission. At the moment the installation is (This is) Air, developed by Nic Brunsdon which draws attention to one of the universal and defining features of life on earth: breathing air.

The large sphere structure morphs and changes throughout the day as it expands and then releases air in a natural rhythm. When fully inflated it stands more than fourteen metres tall and throughout the day, the structure ‘exhales’, releasing gusts of air, before filling to capacity again.

Another current interesting contemporary exhibition is by artist Li Lihong whose work looks at the relationship between tradition and modernity in Chinese art. He has used recognisable symbols of global brands such as Disney, Apple and McDonalds and transformed them into ceramic works.

A captivating display that the whole family will love is that of Sarah McCreanor (Smac). Her performance art has made her popular and known as Hydraulic Press Girl on social media. Her training as a professional dancer and comedian are apparent as she interprets the destruction of objects as they are compressed by a hydraulic press.

The gallery also has vast rooms that house more traditional galleries of art which overwhelm with their sheer size and scale. There is a very clever display called Fell by Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen which uses timber salvaged from furniture to recreate a felled tree and stump, returning the furniture pieces to its original form as a tree.

These are just some of my highlights from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and you can visit to find these and your own favourites for free at 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne every day from 10am – 5pm.

Enjoy

Glenys