Exhibition: Stargazing

‘Stargazing brings together a selection of contemporary photographs that guide us towards the stars, the planets and celestial spaces in poetic, experimental, playful, conceptual, and often quite abstract ways.

Through a variety of photographic processes and experimental techniques, often incorporating analogue technologies or archival imagery, the artists in this exhibition go beyond literal depictions of the heavens above, making works that evoke, transform and play with celestial scenes. They delve into ideas about the universe and our place within it, exploring the cosmos from felt, imagined and self-referential perspectives. While alluding to realms that exist beyond Earth’s surface, these artists encourage us to reflect on themes that remain tightly connected to human experience and the planet in which we live. These include environmental issues, interconnectedness, identity, spirituality, time, memory, mortality, and the nature of photography itself.

Showing works from MAPh’s significant collection of Australian photographs alongside loans from artists, Stargazing features work by Amos Gebhardt, Michaela Gleave, Anna Higgins, Harry Nankin, Trent Parke, Luke Parker, Patrick Pound, Michael Riley, Kate Robertson, David Stephenson, Christian Thompson, Zan Wimberley and Jemima Wyman’. Stella Loftus-Hills, MAPh Curator

Photograph above: Sip from the unseen. 120 x 120 cm chromogenic print Christian Thompson.

Museum of Australian Photography. Wheelers Hill, Victoria 25 November 2023 – 18 February 2024.