How does our experience of art change if we slow down and spend an extended period of time contemplating one work? What details will we notice, and how might our perception of the work change?
Drawing on visual sensibilities, imagination and personal reflections, art historian and educator Dr Olivia Meehan will guide you through observation and slow looking techniques in response to Richard Lewer’s Adam and Eve series, now on display in the Members Lounge at NGV International.
Through twelve paintings, Richard Lewer examines the creation story of Adam and Eve, central to Abrahamic religions and a source of inspiration and commentary by artists throughout the history of Western art.
This is a unique opportunity for NGV Members to experience these works in a more reflective and contemplative way.
Dr Olivia Meehan is an art historian and object-based learning specialist at The University of Melbourne. She concentrates on slow looking and contemplative pedagogies in discipline-led curriculum design to support visual intelligence. Olivia received her Master of Philosophy and PhD in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge, where her graduate research focused on the circulation of cultural material and ideas in early modern Europe and Japan. Her forthcoming book Slow Looking: The Art of Nature, published by Thames & Hudson, is being released in September 2025.
This program is part of NGV Members Weekend, taking place on 19 and 20 September. Discover all that NGV Membership has to offer with two full days of programming, exclusive offers and giveaways, private exhibition viewings and more.