Endless Present

This exhibition presents a selection of conceptual photographs and artists’ books produced in Melbourne and internationally during the 1960s and 1970s.  The works reveal an interest in ideas or concepts rather than in the physical form of the work.  They also display a fascination with serial-based practice and the everyday – the ‘endless present’ of daily existence.  The exhibition will feature the work of Robert Rooney, Ed Ruscha, Sol LeWitt and others.  It provides an opportunity to view rare and significant conceptual works by key international artists, and to examine the transmission of these works and ideas to Melbourne.

The majority of works on display in Endless Present have been gifted to the National Gallery of Victoria by the artist and writer Robert Rooney.  Rooney began collecting Australian and international materials related to conceptual art in the 1960s, through galleries, artists, and via mail order. Many of these publications and artworks had not made their way to Australia at the time when Rooney was collecting them, and many are rarely seen here today.