Vivienne Binns: On and through the Surface

Tracing 60 years of work by one of Australia’s most significant feminist artists. 

Vivienne Binns: On and through the Surface is the first retrospective of Binns’ multifaceted practice. A partnership between the MCA and Monash University Museum of Art, it brings together over 100 artworks spanning six decades alongside a rich selection of archival materials.

Vivienne Binns is an important figure in the history of Australian visual art. Binns rose to prominence in the 1960s with her psychedelic depictions of sexual imagery, which anticipated the feminist art movement. Since that time, she has continued to shape some of the most significant developments in Australian visual culture, both within and beyond the domain of the gallery. Binns’ outstanding contribution to Australian art was recognised in 2021 with an Australia Council Award for Visual Arts.

The exhibition charts the key periods, themes and methods in Binns’ work, from her early iconic depictions of the body to the socially transformative impact of her community projects, and the breadth of ideas that she has explored since returning to studio practice in the 1980s. Above all, it reflects Binns’ enduring interest in testing the possibilities of the painted surface.

Curated by Anneke Jaspers, Senior Curator, Collection, MCA and Hannah Mathews, Senior Curator, MUMA.

Located on Level 3.

Entry is free.