Locally, Belmont High School's Arthur Foulkes is among the incredible talent this year.
Top Arts 2023 returns to The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia for its 29th year, showcasing the talent of Victoria’s emerging creatives who have excelled in VCE art subjects.
Top Arts 2023 celebrates the creativity, vision and commitment of 38 emerging artists and designers from across the state who have used art to bring their passions and concerns into sharp focus. The exhibition showcases works that are provocative and introspective, spanning themes of cultural and gender identity, vulnerability, society and nature.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
Direct from Belmont High School, Geelong, Arthur Foulkes’ stoneware of Shoulder to shoulder, Skull to skull and Cardboard box 2022 explores the inextricable link between consumerism in modern life and the influence of peers.
“‘Cardboard Box’ encapsulates our contemporary culture of consumption. The figures on the pot each display a unique interaction with the box symbolic of the variety of beliefs around the society we live in and its capitalist dogmas,” Foulkes says.
“‘Shoulder to shoulder. Skull to Skull’ examines peer influence and the association between those who surround us, their attitudes, ideas, opinions and the impact they have on our mind. The men’s, bodies are connected uniting them as a singular entity, that think, behave, and believe under the influence of the other.”
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Further highlights from the exhibition include Minh Dang’s striking portrait Sorrow 2022 which depicts the artist’s friend and reflects on the challenges of a young queer man growing up in rural Victoria.
Dagoman, Wardaman and Gurindji woman Jasmine Glass has produced three woven baskets using traditional weaving techniques, reflecting the young artist’s connection to Country, her cultural heritage, and the long lineage of Aboriginal women who maintained the practice before her.
Mildura’s Eden Muster’s playful costume designs are reminiscent of childhood nostalgia and dress-up, intending to return audiences to a time of youth and impulsiveness set far from the pressures of adult life.
Hugo Martin’s Father and Poppy Series 2022 delves into family relationships, shared history and the sense of connection throughout time, painting hopeful and enjoyable scenes of the artist’s family across three generations.
For Jack Snow-Viener, the Sulfur photographic series overlays images, asking viewers to contemplate their own notions of what is conventionally beautiful.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said, “The annual Top Arts exhibition demonstrates the astounding talent of Victoria’s young artists and designers as they contemplate the world around them following a challenging period of disruption. The level of technical and conceptual complexity present in this year’s exhibition is a testament to the resilience of young artists and we are proud to continue to foster their work, perspectives and experiences at the NGV.”
Top Arts 2023 will be on display from 17 March – 9 July 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square, Flinders St & Russell St, Melbourne. Free entry. Further information is available via the NGV website.
