Image: Geelong Art Gallery
Geelong Gallery will present ‘Alchemy—Material Transformations’, an exhibition of more than 50 small sculptures and decorative-arts objects drawn from its collection. The exhibition will examine how artists and artisans convert raw and found materials into expressive forms, bringing together works by 28 makers at the gallery in Geelong, Australia.
Running from Friday 19 June 2026 to Sunday 7 February 2027, the exhibition will range across materials including stone, bronze, wood, glass and plastic. Its selection is framed around the transformative processes of artmaking, with objects demonstrating how material properties can be altered, combined or reimagined through artistic practice.
The exhibition’s historical span extends from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European etched glass to contemporary 3D-printed sculpture. Geelong Gallery describes the presentation as a celebration of artists’ continuing fascination with material experimentation, placing decorative-arts objects and sculpture within a shared consideration of form, technique and substance.
Among the featured works is John Meade’s ‘Silvia’ (2014), a sculpture made from auto enamel paint on cast aluminium, horsehair, linen thread, bronze, nylon and rubber. The work entered the Geelong Gallery Collection in 2025 through the Geelong Gallery Acquisition Fund, providing a contemporary example of the exhibition’s focus on the combination and transformation of disparate materials.
‘Alchemy—Material Transformations’ forms part of Geelong Gallery’s 2026 exhibition program, which also includes ‘Claude Monet and Australian Impressionism’ and ‘Milestones in Collecting—130th Anniversary Exhibition’. The gallery is marking its 130th anniversary year with exhibitions that draw attention to both its collection and its historical development. ‘Milestones in Collecting’ includes works acquired at key points in the institution’s history, including Frederick McCubbin’s ‘A bush burial’ (1890), purchased in 1900, and John Brack’s ‘The hunt’ (1988), acquired through public subscription in 1996.
The exhibition will be held at Geelong Gallery, 55 Little Malop Street, Geelong. The gallery is open daily from 10am to 5pm. ‘Alchemy—Material Transformations’ is scheduled to remain on view through Sunday 7 February 2027.
