Scotty So: A Beautiful Deception

With regular appearances at nightclubs and major museums, Scotty So is Melbourne’s most in-demand performance artist. He’s now preparing for his first commercial gallery exhibition.

Words: Victoria Perin

Photography: Elke Meitzel

Scotty So is perhaps Australia’s most in-demand performance artist. A darling of the National Gallery of Victoria, he was featured in the 2020 triennial, China: The Past is Present, QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection in 2022, and Melbourne Now in 2023. Despite being represented for three years by MARS Gallery in Melbourne, So is yet to have his first solo commercial exhibition. This is surprising, considering his ubiquity at art events and openings, where he appears as a drag artist who floats above the hoi polloi, often in gorgeous vintage or custom cheongsam.

The busy artist participated in 17 exhibitions in 2023, alongside drag performances and his career as a nightclub performer. His solo at MARS will be held at the same time as a major group show at the State Library of Victoria, where…

READ THE REST IN OUR LATEST ISSUE

BUY OUR LATEST ISSUE SUBSCRIBE TO ART COLLECTOR SIGN UP FOR OUR E-NEWSLETTER

READ MORE

Breaking News: Richard Lewer

Responding to his daily newsfeed with paint, Richard Lewer brings fifty-one new works to the Aotearoa Art Fair — a compendium of political flashpoints, personal memory and social observation distilled into an “over-stylised simplicity”.
Read more
Emma Buswell in her studio.

Cool Hunter: Emma Buswell

Emma Buswell transforms kitsch cultural moments like the Coles roast chicken bachelor’s handbags into labour-intensive textile works that probe power, mythology, and the absurdities of contemporary Australian life.
Read more

New Directions: Sara Hughes

Sara Hughes has spent two decades transforming civic spaces. In her most recent show, she turns inward, mounting a generous inquiry into artistic inheritance and the women artists who continue to guide her vision.
Read more

Curator’s Radar: Atong Atem

From her monumental self-portrait at the National Portrait Gallery to presentations at Tate Modern and Paris Photo, the South-Sudanese artist’s practice continues to assert new narratives of identity and belonging.
Read more

Mike Parr: Look closely at what you’d rather not see

Read more
Philip Wolfhagen pats his dog

Philip Wolfhagen: Fields of Vision

Read more
Follow a manual added link

Art Collector acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country across Australia, the land on which we live, work, and create.

feedback@artcollector.net.au

Diena Georgetti: A.I and the Evolution of Self-PortraitureNAS Grad ShowsMeet the rising stars of the NAS Grad Shows