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Paul Yore is currently showing in the Melbourne Sculpture Biennale 2026 ‘Soft Systems’. Melbourne Sculpture Biennale is a non-profit project founded in 2024 in Naarm/Melbourne, dedicated to deepening engagement with critically engaged sculptural practices and creating greater opportunities for contemporary sculptural artists.

In dialogue with Billilla’s architecture, history and landscape, ‘Soft Systems’ considers sculpture as a form of storytelling – one capable of making complex systems visible, material and spatial. The exhibition offers a broad survey of contemporary sculptural practice in Naarm/Melbourne while inviting audiences to consider the often-unseen forces and connections that shape the world around us.

Yore's presentation within the nursery room at Billilla Mansion takes as its starting point, and expands upon, his ongoing Souvenir series wherein mass- produced Australian folk motifs and forms are monumentalised into highly decorative tableaux.

The centrepiece of the presentation is the mixed media mosaic sculpture Big M (2025), displayed alongside several new conceptually and formally related works, a Vegemite Ja r, Foster’s Larger Can and Victoria Bitter Bottle . The suite of sculptures are displayed on spinning platforms, playfully engaging the nursery room as a site.

The presentation is optimistic and affirming, reasserting the primacy and urgency of creativity and the belief that art remains a vital space for expression, acceptance and potentiality by allowing new possibilities for participation, contemplation and meaning. By playfully breaking down hierarchies between high and low cultural forms, Yore attempts to open up a dialogue directly with our own subjective responses as spectators, empowering us to feel curiosity and wonderment.

To this end, the presentation considers the nursery room as an important context for the presentation, animating a multiplicity of potential narratives. An important idea in this context is mimesis and mimicry. As Roger Caillois elucidates in his theorisation of play and games in human development:‘For children, the aim is to imitate adults. This explains the success of the toy weapons and miniatures which copy the tools, engines, arms, and machines used by adults. The little girl plays her mother’s role as cook, laundress, and ironer. The boy m akes believe he is a soldier, musketeer, policeman, pirate, cowboy, Martian, etc. ’ - Roger Caillois, Man, Play and Games (Les jeux et les hommes, 1958), Pg 21

In imitating pre-existing forms, in this case food products, and exaggerating them into uncanny sculptural objects, the works positions the adult viewer as a child-like figure too, catalysing a critique through a queer lens of the process of learning, language acquisition, consumption, and being inculcated into cultural and social norms. Equally, the work seeks to think about play and mimesis (and therefore creativity and art) as a potentially emancipated space. Mimicry, make believe, role- play, masquerade, drag, parody, camouflage and disguise offer opportunities to resist the expectations of rigid categorisation.

The presentation is also sympathetic to the historical and architectural context of the mansion, drawing upon traditional decorative and applied art methodologies such as mosaic, and resonating with the material and formal conventions of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement. Both these periods can be understood as reactions against industrialisation and mechanisation, reviving instead time-honoured artisanal techniques.

The biennale is on display at Billilla Mansion, Brighton, Victoria, from 8–25 October 2026.

Pictured (ABOVE): Paul Yore in Melbourne Sculpture Bienniale: Soft Systems, 2026. Installation Photography by Nicholas Mahady.
Pictured (TOP): Paul Yore, Victoria Bitter Bottle, 2026, mixed media assemblage sculpture comprising plastic, glass, crockery, found objects, wood, adhesive, synthetic polymer, fixtures, 90 x 40 x 40 cm

Please join us on Saturday 31st October from 1-3pm for an exhibition celebration at Hugo Michell Gallery for our current show 'HALLOWEEN'.

POLLY BORLAND, ZAACHARIAHA FIELDING, TONY GARIFALAKIS, TARRYN GILL, SUE KNEEBONE, NELL, FIONA ROBERTS, JULIA ROBINSON, PIP RYAN, JESS TAYLOR, ANGELA VALAMANESH, AND PAUL YORE

Something is off. A lingering sense of unease, distorted bodily forms, narratives where the macabre meets humour.

'HALLOWEEN' brings together twelve contemporary artists whose works teeter between beauty and horror, the familiar and uncanny. 

Aligned with Halloween, a time believed to mark the thinning of the veil between realms, this presentation lingers on the threshold of the everyday and the unknown, where certainty gives way to curiosity, discomfort, and fear. 

‘HALLOWEEN’ will be on display during gallery hours from 9 October  7 November 2026, with a special Halloween public event on Saturday 31st October, 1-3pm

Preview requests to mail@hugomichellgallery.com

With gratitude to the extended group of exhibiting artists and collaborating galleries. Polly Borland is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf. Nell is represented by STATION Gallery. Tarryn Gill and Angela Valamanesh are represented by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert.

Pictured: Paul Yore, Death Is Coming, 2025, wool, needlepoint, appliqued textile comprising found materials, sequins, buttons, beads, and LED, 86 × 86 × 9 cm

Justine Varga has been announced as the recipient of an honourable mention in the 2026 Bowness Photography Prize for her work ‘Concussion # 1’. 

Having suffered a concussion, Justine Varga elucidates the experience in her artist statement: “after many months of convalescing, I finally felt well enough to attempt to give photographic form to my experience. Enacting self-expressive gestures as a series of marks on my negative, and then printing the resulting record at immersive scale, I seek to share not how concussion looks, but how it feels.”

The judging panel, consisting of artist + Bowness Photography Prize winner (2014) Petrina Hicks, Natasha Bullock (Senior Curator Photography, NGV) and Anouska Phizacklea, MAPh Director, selected one winner and two honourable mentions. They observe: “Justine Varga's photograph has a quiet intensity, a work that rewards prolonged looking', and note that the artist's experience is 'echoed here in the fluidity, depth of colour and delicate painterly quality of the surface."

Pictured: Justine Varga, Concussion #1, 2026, chromogenic print, 186 x 136 cm

Hugo Michell Gallery is thrilled to be participating in Sydney Contemporary Art Fair for 2026, with solo bodies of work by Ildiko Kovacs, Julia Robinson, and Amy Joy Watson from 3 to 6 September, Carriageworks.

Tactile, gestural, and emotionally resonant, the curated presentation speaks to works that engage with the natural world and are defined by unique materials.

As part of our extended booth presentation, we will present an intimate salon-style display of new works in the Storeroom Annexe. Clara Adolphs, Sally Bourke, Bridie Gillman, Sam Gold, Lucas Grogan, Richard Lewer, William Mackinnon, Fiona McMonagle, Georgia Spain, Justine Varga, and Paul Yore.

Preview requests to mail@hugomichellgallery.com

Pictured (TOP) Amy Joy Watson, Metallic thread on brass mesh with brass frame, 119 × 155 cm, photography by Andy Nowell

We are thrilled to share that Georgia Spain has been announced as the Winner of the 2026 Mosman Art Prize!

About this painting, Georgia shares: “’The different ways to ward off words (After NS)’ explores bodily transformation, feminism, mythology, and the multiplicity of the self. I made this painting with the lineage of feminist mother artists close by. Here, poking out one’s tongue symbolises something larger: a defiant stance against the expectation that you can’t do or be it all. The work explores the tension between these demands and the possibility of making space for many selves at once.”

Established in 1947, the Mosman Art Prize is Australia's oldest and longest-running local government art award. Valued at $70,000, it is a prestigious national open painting prize funded by the Mosman Council. The winning artwork is acquired each year to form the historic Mosman Art Collection.

An exhibition of finalist artworks will be on display from 20 August to 26 October 2026 at Mosman Art Gallery, NSW.

Pictured: Georgia Spain, The different ways to ward off words (After NS), 2026, acrylic on canvas, 176 x 115 cm

We’re delighted to share that Justine Varga has been announced as a finalist in the 2026 Bowness Photography Prize. 

Now in its 21st year, The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is an important annual survey of contemporary photographic practice in Australia and one of the most prestigious prizes in the country. The winner takes home $50,000, with a $10,000 Wai Tang Commissioning Award, two $2,500 honourable mentions and a $5,000 RACV People's Choice. 

The 21st Bowness Photography Prize, curated by MAPh Director Anouska Phizacklea, will be presented from 12 September to 8 November 2026 at the Museum of Australian Photography, Wheelers Hill. Opening night and winner announcement on Thursday 17 September.

Pictured: Justine Varga, Concussion #1, 2026, from the series ‘Concussion’, chromogenic print, 186 x 136 cm. Image courtesy of the artist

We are thrilled to share Lucas Grogan’s monumental commissioned work has been unveiled at the library Phrontisterion at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Hobart. 

‘A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy)’ was commissioned by MONA as part of the new underground library, Phrontisterion. The space houses David Walsh’s collection of more than 30,000 books and related objects, including Shakespeare’s First Folio, a first edition of Lolita, and signed editions by Umberto Eco, J.G. Ballard and Hunter S. Thompson. 

Made up of 27 panels that span nearly 10 metres by 5 metres, this expansive library is a verdant tidal wave of thoughts, opinions, memories, jokes, and references to MONA’s collection.

About this work, Lucas shares: “A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy) was commissioned by MONA as part of the new underground library, Phrontisterion. The space houses David Walsh’s collection of more than 30,000 books and related objects, including Shakespeare’s First Folio, a first edition of Lolita, and signed editions by Umberto Eco, J.G. Ballard and Hunter S. Thompson. 

My library paintings began as a simple way to gather the contents of my journals into one place: jokes, quotes, ideas, opinions and reflections. A meeting point where the serious collided with the ridiculous, and where interior life met projection. It quickly became apparent that these works functioned as both time capsules and portraits. We are not what we look like, but rather how we think, what we feel, and what we love or loathe. The libraries operate like distilleries, where sweet meets sour, academic meets frivolous, and questions occasionally find answers.

Since my first exhibition in 2003, I have bought a glossy art book to commemorate the occasion, inscribing the year and signing it “XLG”. Over time this evolved into buying a book to mark any significant or joyful event. The collection has become one of my most treasured possessions: a working library of resources I use daily in the studio, each carrying a sentimental reason for its inclusion.

I have also kept a diary since childhood. These days they are process journals, almost entirely text-based, filled with short poems, headlines, quotations and stray ideas. I love the way unrelated thoughts sit alongside one another. They become chaotic poems, diving deep down one rabbit hole before immediately swerving in another direction and contradicting themselves. What ends up on the painted book spines often depends entirely on my mood. Sometimes the news feels apocalyptic; other times I become embarrassingly sentimental. The books reflect this. I have found it best to distribute each mood evenly across the shelves.

Working within a deliberately limited palette, I wanted each spine to feel like a volume within a sprawling, disordered encyclopedia. Over time this developed into a form of camouflage. The eye struggles to settle on any single title before being distracted by another. I suspect that the title that first leaps out at you is either the one you most need to read, or perhaps the one that was written about you all along. 

During COVID, as people broadcast from their homes, I became fascinated by the bookshelves behind them. Some carefully positioned their own publications; others seemed eager to demonstrate intelligence, taste or cultural capital. The objects nestled among the books often revealed even more: Star Wars figurines, Hermannsburg pottery, feathers collected from the street. Bookshelves became accidental self-portraits.

Historically, owning books signified wealth, power and knowledge. While large domestic libraries have become less common, books still function as markers of class, status and aspiration. A Tom Ford monograph on a coffee table, a Keith Haring book supporting a vase, or Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem gathering dust in thekitchen. I am fascinated by the way bookshelves simultaneously document and perform identity. They offer clues about who someone is, and perhaps who they would like to be.

When David asked me to create this work, I nearly shat my pants. Equal parts excitement and dread. He visited my studio while I was working on a series of exclusively blue libraries and casually mentioned that he had already chosen green carpet for the Phrontisterion. “Yep,” I said, “love that.” MONA gave me access to its collection, allowing me to incorporate objects from across its holdings. Many were ancient, fascinating and, unfortunately for my purposes, overwhelmingly brown. So I adjusted what I could, altered scale where necessary, and added flourishes along the way.

Ultimately it took a year to complete this work for MONA. 27 panels shipped down and trimmed to fit with crossed fingers. Now it’s there permanently at the end of a rabbit warren- a dark forest - a verdant tidal wave of thoughts, opinions, memories and jokes."

Phrontisterion Library, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, is open Thursday to Monday, 10am – 5pm, with access included with museum entry.  

Lucas Grogan, A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy) (artwork detail), 2025-26, acrylic on hoop pine ply, commissioned for MONA library, Phrontisterion, Hobart. Photography by Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy of the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia