Art Wrap: 11 Exhibitions to See in Melbourne This Summer

Keep cool this summer by checking out Melbourne’s best art shows. There’s an exhibition following the journey of a snail, and the most comprehensive display of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s works to date. Plus, check out models and designs from Black Panther and Blade Runner, as well as group exhibitions exploring climate change, Italian design and the importance of our pets.

Polka-dots, pumpkins and immersive experiences (including one of the artist’s hallmark infinity rooms) will transform the entire ground floor of the NGV this summer with the arrival of the biggest Yayoi Kusama exhibition ever mounted in Australia. Bringing together more than 180 artworks from the 95-year-old Japanese artist’s eight-decade-long career, it invites guests to move chronologically through the artist’s life, learning about her childhood, life in New York in the 1960s and her evolution into one of the world’s most famous contemporary artists. And while Kusama’s sculptures and immersive rooms have become emblematic of her work, this exhibition offers insight into the many mediums she has worked across during her career.
Until April 21, 2025. Ticketed.

Showcasing Italy’s rich history of craftsmanship and its post-war economic boom, this exhibition brings an eclectic range of modernist designs to Australia. It features over 180 objects including furniture company Gufram’s distinctive Pratone – a grass-inspired chaise lounge. There’s also a Vespa, an original Italian coffee maker and a 1957 Fiat Nuova 500.
Until March 23, 2025. Tickets included with museum admission.

What future do we want to see? This is the question ACMI’s immersive new exhibition, The Future & Other Fictions, strives to answer through more than 180 works spanning game design, fashion, contemporary art and film. The exhibition will transport visitors to utopic futures where First Nations knowledge, cyberpunk aesthetics and Afrofuturist technologies sit side-by-side. From Black Panther and Björk to Blade Runner and fashion designer Alessandro Michele – plus two never-before-seen commissions – this exhibition explores how imaginative futures are brought to life on the screen.
Until April 27, 2025. Ticketed.

This free exhibition brings together the visions of 29 artists and collectives, who are all merging art and technology to reinterpret classic Western sci-fi narratives and tropes. Across nine chapters, the interactive exhibition explores science fiction’s possible roots in Asian philosophy and spirituality. It also platforms female and diverse cultural voices in a way that Western sci-fi typically has not. It includes a reimagining of the Hindu goddess of fertility, Lakshmi, as an environmental saviour, and a demon who punishes adults for misusing social media.
Until May 31, 2025. Free.

A resistance. A stance. An idea. ACCA’s new, free exhibition brings together recent work from 12 international and local artists to speak to both the optimism and the grief that arises when considering the world’s ecological future. Underpinned by an acknowledgment of the connection between humans and the natural world, the exhibition explores the different ways we connect and disconnect from nature in the modern age.
Until March 16, 2025. Free.

Picture this: a bright pink 1973 Holden Monaro cruising through Melbourne’s west, its number plate “ACAB 1” spinning as the car moves through a series of burnouts, an operatic soundtrack rising in the background. This is Initiation OA_RR a three-piece video installation from Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie, which is one of the artworks on display in his first retrospective. The exhibition collects more than 100 of Rennie’s works and unpacks the artist’s experience as an Aboriginal man in contemporary society.
Until January 27, 2025. Free.

Typically, the MPavillion is an annual architectural commission. But with Tadao Ando’s 2023 M Pavillion 10 remaining in place until 2025, this year’s program will look a little different. You can expect buzzy DJ sets, experimental food takeovers, child-friendly design workshops, and choreography in this year’s summer program. Get excited for an evening of feasting and storytelling hosted by Free to Feed, a weaving workshop led by Chaco Kato from Slow Art Collective, gigs curated by social enterprise Music in Exile and more.
Until March 22, 2025. Ticketed or free, depending on event.

Tony Clark is one of Australia’s most important artists, with his diverse and exploratory work coloured by a sense of punk irreverence. Tony Clark: Unsculpted at Buxton Contemporary includes more than 100 works from the artist’s 40-year career. Described as “unclassifiable”, Clark’s practice spans chromatic landscapes, sculpture and painting. This is the biggest presentation of his work since 1998.
Until June 1, 2025. Free.

In an age of perpetually unfolding disaster, how do we move through the uncertainty? This is the question West Space’s most recent commission Extinguishing Hope seeks to address. Using an animated snail as the exhibition’s protagonist, artist Akil Ahamat merges absurdist theatre with gaming innovation, literary studies and film to create an immersive cinematic experience.
Until January 18, 2025. Free.

Throughout history, cats and dogs have held a special place in human hearts. This exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre pays tribute to their important role in our lives and their impact on visual culture. Bringing together more than 200 works from the gallery’s collection – including art by Alexander McQueen, Pierre Bonnard, Jeff Koons, Grace Cossington Smith and Rembrandt van Rijn – the exhibition shows how pets have inspired artists and designers since antiquity.
Until July 20, 2025. Ticketed.

Digital art gallery The Lume’s inaugural exhibition, Van Gogh Alive, attracted nearly two million visitors across Australia and New Zealand. Now, after two years, the Dutch painter’s works will once again be projected across the 3,000 square metre space, following its most recent exhibition featuring Leonardo Da Vinci. Experience the rich colours and vibrant textures of Van Gogh’s paintings come to life in a multi-sensory tour of the Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise. Visitors will have the chance to step inside The Bedroom or be surrounded by Van Gogh’s majestic Starry Night, while the vividly recreated Cafe Terrace 1888 evokes the dining essence of nineteenth-century France. And this time, there’ll also be a virtual reality experience guiding visitors through an immersive journey of Van Gogh’s life.
Until June 1. Ticketed