Image: Opening night documentation, COLLECT 2024, 12th July – 1st September, 2024, curated by Isabel Whittle, The Lock-Up, Muloobinba/Newcastle. Photograph: Wanagi Zable-Andrews.
Over 100 artists from Newcastle, the Hunter and beyond will feature in this highly anticipated annual fundraiser exhibition. Celebrating its eighth year, COLLECT proudly presents works from local early career and established artists alongside The Lock-Up’s renowned artistic community, including the likes of Michael Bell, Lottie Consalvo, James Drinkwater, Deborah Kelly, Mel O’Callaghan, Izabela Pluta, Alex Seton and Khaled Sabsabi. Each exhibiting artist will contribute a work to be exhibited and sold, raising funds for the not-for-profit, independent art space. Works will be available for purchase in the gallery and via The Lock- Up’s online shop from opening night.
Leading the delivery of COLLECT 2025 is Early Career Curator Andrea Grljusic, an arts project manager who has worked internationally over the last several years. Before moving to Australia, she was the studio manager of internationally acclaimed artist Leiko Ikemura and has experience working for leading international commercial galleries in Berlin including König Galerie and Contemporary Fine Arts.
COLLECT: Focus is also returning this year, showcasing bodies of work from two local emerging artists, Megan Farquhar and Katie Ellen Wilkins. Curated by Early Career Curator Malvika Satelkar, Focus will emphasise multidisciplinary art forms, including performance art, sound and experimental practices. Malvika is an architectural designer, researcher, and emerging multidisciplinary environmental artist who has worked with various creative professionals and created numerous public sculptural installations across Victoria, New South Wales, and Mumbai. Both Early Career Curators are mentored by The Lock-Up’s new curator, Kar Mun Phoon. Focus is designed to promote the next generation of regionally based practitioners and promote multidisciplinary arts as collectable.
Artists: Michael Bell, Lottie Consalvo, James Drinkwater, Deborah Kelly, Mel O’Callaghan, Izabela Pluta, Alex Seton, Khaled Sabsabi and many more
Opening night: 6 June 2025, 5pm
