MARS Melbourne Art Rooms facts for kids
[MARS] Melbourne Art Rooms is a special art gallery in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It's a place that shows off "contemporary art," which is art made by artists living and working today. The gallery's main goal is to help modern artists from Australia and around the world share their work and build their careers.
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From a Dairy to a Modern Gallery
The gallery, known as [MARS], was started in 2004 by a gallery owner named Andy Dinan. The first [MARS] gallery was in a very unusual spot: a former dairy in Port Melbourne. Andy Dinan transformed the old building, where milk was once processed, into a modern, two-story space for art.
Ten years later, in 2014, [MARS] moved to a brand-new building designed just for the gallery. This new location is in Windsor, a neighborhood in Melbourne.
A Building Designed for Art
The [MARS] gallery building is a work of art itself! It was designed by JAM Architects working with the gallery's founder, Andy Dinan. The three-level building was specially made to show all kinds of modern art.
It has spaces for unique art forms like:
- Sound sculpture: Art that you can hear as well as see.
- Video art: Art that uses moving images, like a movie.
- Light art: Art created with light itself.
The gallery has four different areas for exhibitions. One is a "black-box" room, which is completely dark so that video art can be seen perfectly. There's also a room for light and sound art, and another space just for showing drawings and other art on paper.
To top it off, there's a sculpture garden on the roof! You can get there by taking an elevator that has its own light artwork inside the elevator shaft, created by artist Jason Sims.
Artists at MARS
[MARS] works with many talented contemporary artists who are in the early or middle stages of their careers. The gallery helps them become more well-known.
Some of the artists represented by [MARS] include:
- Daniel Agdag
- Atong Atem
- Penelope Davis
- Sophia Whitney Hewson
- Jenna Lee
- Tony Lloyd
- Dani McKenzie
- Kenny Pittock
- Diego Ramirez
- Cameron Robbins
- Steven Rhall
- Damien Shen
- Jason Sims
- Meagan Streader
- Scotty So
- Brie Trenerry
- Kasia Tons
- Tricky Walsh
Bringing Art to the Public
Besides showing art in the gallery, [MARS] also helps place art in public spaces where everyone can see it. This is done through a service called Andy Dinan Art Consulting.
This team works with artists, builders, and city councils to install amazing public art projects all over Melbourne. These artworks make neighborhoods more interesting and beautiful. For example, they have helped put art on the outside of buildings, in parks, and at new train station areas. This helps make art a part of everyday life for the whole community.
MARS Around the World
[MARS] doesn't just show art in Melbourne. The gallery travels to big art events, called art fairs, all over the world to share its artists' work.
It has participated in fairs in other countries, such as:
- Photo London in England (2023)
- Photo Basel in Switzerland (2022)
- Aotearoa Art Fair in New Zealand (2022)
- Art Central Hong Kong (2017, 2018, and 2019)
- Art Fair Tokyo in Japan (2016)
- Korean International Art Fair in South Korea (2012)
[MARS] is also a regular at major Australian art fairs, like the Melbourne Art Fair and Sydney Contemporary.
