Cover image of the review
Centre 5: bridging the gap, installation view, McClelland, 2022. Image courtesy of McClelland. Photo: Christian Capurro

Centre Five: Bridging the Gap


25 Feb 2023
McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park 12 Nov - 5 Mar 2023

I’d hazard a guess that many Melbournians’ primary point of engagement with Centre Five is a childhood memory of trying (and failing) to climb the slippery, curved surface of Inge King’s Forward Surge (1972–74) on the Arts Centre lawn. King was apparently fine with this. “Public sculpture should be used in some way,” she commented. “It didn’t even worry me when the kids used to run their skateboards up it. This sculpture is strong, and I know it can withstand any ill treatment so why not be part of the community?” Curator Jane Eckett’s Centre Five: Bridging the Gap at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery takes the group’s desire to be part of the community—to bridge the gap between art and its potential publics—as its core focus. The show surveys the work of the seven members of Centre Five, Vincas Jomantas, Julius Kane, Inge King, Clifford Last, Lenton Parr, Norma Redpath, and Teisutis Zikaras, focusing on their most active years in the 1960s and concluding with their final group exhibition, also held at McClelland, in 1973.

Sign in to read for free

Sign in for free to read the archive and get the latest review each Saturday morning. With our readers subscribing to our free weekly exhibition review, Memo Review can continue to publish quality, independent weekly art criticism.

Consider becoming a Patreon supporter or making a donation.

08