A Fictional Retrospective: Gertrude’s First Decade 1985-1995
Curated by Sue Cramer and Emma Nixon

Borrowing from a title coined by artist Sandra Bridie in 1991, A Fictional Retrospective takes a speculative look at the span of artists’ works shown during Gertrude’s formative years, to shape a fresh and vital interpretation of this era. The exhibition will include artworks rarely seen in almost 40 years, yet which retain contemporary relevance through their diverse explorations of cultural and artistic identities; painting both figurative and abstract; the staged and cinematic. Not claiming to be definitive of the period, the exhibition will evoke the liveliness of the Gertrude community during these foundational years and provide an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the gallery's contribution.

The approach taken acknowledges that there is no universal truth to the telling of history, and that subjectivity and chance will inevitably play a role in the curatorial process. This will be a large and expansive exhibition of more than thirty artists: Howard Arkley, Hany Armanious, Stephen Bram, Angela Brennan, Sandra Bridie, Janet Burchill, Jon Campbell, Tony Clark, Brett Colquhoun, Destiny Deacon, Mikala Dwyer, Carolyn Eskdale, Diena Georgetti, Matthys Gerber, Michael Graf, Melinda Harper, Gail Hastings, Raafat Ishak, David Jolly, Mathew Jones, Rosemary Laing, Anne-Marie May, Elizabeth Newman, Rose Nolan, David Noonan, Louise Paramor, Rosslynd Piggott, Vivienne Shark LeWitt, Nike Savvas, Robyn Stacey, Kathy Temin, Anne Zahalka and Constanze Zikos.

Sue Cramer is an independent curator and writer based in Naarm Melbourne, and directs the Estate of John Nixon, Melbourne. She was previously Curator at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (1982–84; 2005–2020); at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (1985–87); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1990–2001), and was Director of Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (1987–1989). Recent exhibitions curated by Sue include ‘Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings’ (Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, and City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand 2021-2022); ‘John Nixon: White Paintings’, (Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, 2022); ‘Danica Chappell: Colour Bleeds and Light Folds’ (Mejia Gallery, Melbourne, 2023) and ‘John Nixon—Four Decades, Five Hundred Prints’, co-curated with Emma Nixon and Trent Walter (Geelong Gallery, Victoria, 2023). Sue was Art Critic for The Age newspaper in 1984 and has contributed extensively to museum publications and art journals including Art & Text, Art + Australia, Art in America and frieze.

Emma Nixon is a writer and curator based in Naarm/Melbourne and is the Gallery Manager at Neon Parc. In 2023 Emma curated two companion exhibitions at Haydens, ‘Pink Heat’ which placed nail polish monochromes by Mikala Dwyer from the 1990s with recent abstract paintings by Renee Cosgrave and Madeline Simm, and ‘Free Jazz’ which presented three luminous acrylic sculptures by Anne-Marie May. She also co-curated ‘John Nixon—Four Decades, Five Hundred Prints’ at Geelong Gallery with Sue Cramer and Trent Walter. She completed a Bachelor of Art History and Curating at Monash University and her Honours thesis was peer-reviewed and published in Findings Journal. In 2018 she co-founded Cathedral Cabinet ARI in the Nicholas Building. Emma has written exhibition texts for the National Gallery of Victoria, Geelong Gallery, Bus Projects, Caves, Knulp, Blindside, Mejia, Sophie Gannon Gallery, ReadingRoom and Liquid Architecture’s journal Disclaimer.