This exhibition examines our understanding and relationship to the non-human world and offers intimate explorations that range from imagined landscapes to detailed compositions bordering on abstraction. By interrogating the perceived separation between nature and culture, the assembled works invite us to reflect on our responsibilities, perceptions of self and our place within nature. Spanning a quarter-century, the exhibition features works from the ANZ Fine Art Collection complimented by select pieces from emerging and established Melbourne artists working across various mediums to explore the non-human world.

Modern Nature invites us to reconnect with the world beyond our urban lives, urging us to recognise our responsibility to a broader and interconnected community that includes both human and non-human life. By bringing the natural world into focus, these works draw us closer to life itself, reminding us of what we stand to lose. The garden we create today becomes a place for change and hope in precarious times. In the words of Olivia Laing, “Call it a garden state: a cross-species ecology of astounding beauty and completeness, never static, always in motion, progressive and prolific. I want to live there, and the world won’t survive much longer if we don’t.”

Exhibited artists: Grant Nimmo, Casey Moore, Gisela Szoke, Nellie Stewart, Betra Fraval, Kent Morris, John Coburn, Betty Muffler, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Georgia Szmerling.

Photographs by Michael Pham.