Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Melbourne Art Fair unite for landmark new art commission
Anna Briers, Curator of Len Lye & Contemporary Art at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, will be curating the highly anticipated BEYOND sector at the 2025 Melbourne Art Fair.
Briers is also curating the 2025 Melbourne Art Foundation Commission, a groundbreaking new artwork by Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland-based artist Yona Lee, in partnership with Fine Arts, Sydney, and supported by Artwork Transport.
Known for her large-scale, site-specific installations, Lee’s Smart Sculpture acts as a performative score, choreographing both audiences’ bodies and the subtly sensing motions of the devices which surround us. Lee reveals private and public spaces to be complex assemblages of forces, bound by invisible systems of freedom and control.
This ambitious co-commission between Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre and Melbourne Art Foundation will span the 18-metre wall in the central piazza at Melbourne Art Fair.
This commission marks the first time MAF has partnered with an international institution, highlighting the Fair's commitment to fostering trans-Tasman collaborations and celebrating innovative contemporary art.
The commissioned artwork will be showcased at the Melbourne Art Fair from February 20-23, 2025, before crossing the Tasman to enter the permanent collection of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. The work will be featured in the Govett-Brewster’s upcoming exhibition Direct Bodily Empathy – Sensing Sound a major group exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Len Lye Centre, opening on 17 May 2025.
Anna has been instrumental in curating the BEYOND sector for sculpture and spatial installation at Melbourne Art Fair and will engage in a conversation with Yona Lee during the fair. They will discuss the development of Lee's monumental site-specific work, Smart Sculpture, its connection to the practice of Len Lye, and its significance within the broader context of contemporary art.
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre Director Dr Zara Stanhope expressed her excitement about the collaboration. "This co-commission is a significant opportunity for Yona Lee to reveal new developments in her creative practice and underscores the Govett-Brewster's commitment to supporting artists in taking creative risks and stimulating new conversations for audiences."