Established 2004 | ||
 | ||
Similar National Gallery of Victoria, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Lakeside Stadium, Olympic Park Stadium, Dandenong Ranges | ||
[MARS] Melbourne Art Rooms is a contemporary commercial art gallery in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. MARS specialises in exhibiting, promoting and building the careers of contemporary Australian and International artists.
Contents
History
[MARS] was established by gallerist Andy Dinan in 2004, who converted a former dairy in Port Melbourne into a two-level contemporary gallery. In 2014, [MARS] relocated to a new purpose-built gallery at 7 James St, Windsor, (in the City of Stonnington).
Since its opening in 2004, [MARS] has staged more than 220 exhibitions and showed more than 330 artists. The gallery has participated in a number of art fairs, including Art Fair Tokyo, Art Fair Korea, Melbourne Art Fair and Sydney Contemporary.
[MARS] is a member of ACGA, the leading national body and collective voice representing commercial art galleries in Australia.
Building
The new [MARS] at Windsor was designed by Chris Manton of Jam Architects. The three-level space incorporates amenities for showing new media such as sound sculpture, video and light art. The gallery has four distinct exhibition spaces, including a custom black-box gallery committed to the exhibition of contemporary video art, a light-box room for the display of light and sound works, as well as a drawing room to exhibit works on paper.
[MARS] is committed to environmental sustainability, and the gallery features a number of environmental design elements including recycled timber floors, and rainwater collection and harvesting.
Artists
[MARS] represents more than 20 contemporary artists including Daniel Agdag, Jo Bertini, Domenico de Clario, Simon Finn, Stephen Haley, Sophia Hewson, Julie Irving, Megan Keating, Bronek Kozka, Nick Mourtzakis, Simon Pericich, Diego Ramirez, Anna Louise Richardson, Cameron Robbins, Giles Ryder, Damien Shen, Jason Sims, Brie Trennery, Samuel Tupou, Tricky Walsh, Meg Williams and Jud Wimhurst.
Public Art & Rent Art
In addition to a regular exhibition program, [MARS] offers a public art consultancy and works alongside artists, property developers, architects and local councils to implement Public Art projects throughout Melbourne. Some of the public art commissions curated by [MARS] are featured on the following buildings in Melbourne: 50 Albert Rd, Albert Park with artists Emma Davies,Jeremy Kibel and Dr James Hullick, Eden and Haven residential developments with artwork by artists Priscilla Bracks, Daniel Agdag and Alexis Beckett; Smith Street Collingwood (The Smith Street Portrait Project by photographer Jacqueline Mitelman) Domenico De Clario Project – installations by David Burrows ; Footscray Plaza redevelopment featuring a 240-square-metre artwork by Melbourne Artist Matthew Harding on the façade of No.18 Albert; Port Melbourne and Melbourne CBD.
[MARS] also offers a rental art program, which seeks to support contemporary artists, through the acquisition and placement of artworks in private and public spaces.