Things We Love Blog

Asbestos is a good thing so long as it is the art shed in Melbourne

A screen capture of the Asbestos website showing the white walls, odd concrete plinth, distressed wooden door of the gallery. Currently hung is a large painting showing a pair of glasses and a television mid broadcast capturing a woman next to a leather chair.

Credit: Screencap of asbestos.fail

What is it: A shed that has been turned into an exhibition space so interesting it argues that all art should be placed in sheds.

Perfect for: People into the conjunction of art space and shed space.

Asbestos is a DIY, artist-run exhibition space housed inside a decommissioned laundry. The gallery includes concrete sinks, exposed piping, and even a water heater around which installations are arranged. The impression from visiting exclusively via their website is one of people doing the most with the least, a maximaliazed minimalism attesting to the power of vision to invest new meaning into that which has come before. Plus, it’s a f*in’ shed. Which is awesome.

Particular highlights include Josh Krum’s Untitled oil on canvas, a bold yellow & black offering that suggests a resonant post-use repurposed industrialism, as well as Alexis Kanatsios’s By effect of the Southern gust, spinning sailors break circular formation, a giant replica dart that looks perfectly at home in this setting. Their current installation focuses on the concept of prosthetic relationality.

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