RMIT Galleries

“Sitting at Sol’s small architectural desk in his Chester studio, which I had the immense privilege to be the first artist outside of family to make artwork in, I thought about ‘pivots of place’ and of how, in this place where I sat, his wall drawings of global reach and their instructions were drawn up.” — Irene Barberis

Curator and artist Irene Barberis first met Sol LeWitt at the Museum of Modern Art in 1974, maintaining a close friendship and mentorship with him until his passing in 2007. According to Barberis, “he seemed to always be part of my studio practice.”

Through the generosity of the LeWitt family, she was granted residencies across his three studios, developing new work while systematically documenting the material and conceptual traces of his practice.

Her experience in the Chester Studio reiterated “the notion of the studio space as a centre of concentricity”, and inspired the Sol LeWitt Project: a multi-country initiative that revolves around his work, ideas and the artists who have worked closely with or been inspired by him.

‘The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place’ positions Australia at the centre of an ambitious global dialogue on conceptual art, influence and the circulation of ideas.

Join us to celebrate the opening of this exhibition on Thursday 4 June from 5:30—7:30pm at RMIT Gallery. RSVP via the link in our bio.

- 

Curated by Irene Barberis with Helen Rayment. 

  

   
 
       

Quotes: Irene Barberis, ‘Interview - Helen Rayment in conversation with Irene Barberis’ in ‘Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt Part 1’, 2024. 

Image 1: Sol LeWitt Chester Studio, 2019. Photo by Irene Barberis © Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt, 2026. 
Image 2: Sol LeWitt Chester Studio, 2022. Irene Barberis, photo by Michael Fenneli © Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt, 2026

“I am very interested in getting people together and my intention is always for the togetherness to be spontaneous”

Artist Elisa Zorraquin is interested in jewellery’s potential as a social tool, asking how intentional design can inspire connection and conversation between strangers.

Zorraquin’s First Site exhibition ‘Boiling Matters’ comprises five hand-thrown ceramic teacups, each bound together by a handmade brass chain. A careful choreography ensues, with visitors working together to navigate the act of tea drinking.

Through this work, the artist explores how shared rituals can transform everyday gestures into moments of empathy and awareness.

‘Boiling Matters’ is showing at First Site Gallery until 12 June. ⁠

On Tuesday 2 and 9 June at 12:30pm, join Elisa Zorraquin for ‘Boiling Matters’, a series of artist-led, participatory sessions that prompt reflection, humour and intimacy through the process of sipping tea whilst linked together.
⁠
For more info and to reserve your place, head to the link in our bio.

⁠ ⁠
⁠ ⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠

Image 1: Photo of Elisa Zorraquin by Claire Armstrong.
Images 2-4: Installation views of ‘Boiling Matters’ by Elisa Zorraquin, First Site Gallery, Melbourne, 2026. Photos by Christian Capurro.

RMIT Galleries would like to congratulate Catlin Langford, who has recently been announced as a recipient of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s TOP 5 Media Residency for 2026!

Langford is a PhD candidate in the RMIT School of Art, her research examines photobooths in urban culture. She also co-curated ‘Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits’ last year at RMIT Gallery, coinciding with the 100-year anniversary of the invention of the photobooth.

Now in its twelfth year, the ABC TOP 5 project supports early career PhD academics across Science, Humanities and the Arts through media training and practical experience, working alongside Australia’s best journalists and broadcasters.

Congratulations on receiving this incredible opportunity!

Q***r. Legibility. Lineage.

This is how artist Chloe Rose Thomas describes their exhibition, ‘Can I Hold You?’, showing now at First Site Gallery.

‘Can I Hold You?’ is both a continuation of q***r lineage and an honouring of q***r pasts. In response to Catherine Opie’s 1993–1994 photographs, ‘Self-Portrait/Cutting’ and ‘Self-Portrait/Pervert’, Thomas’ re-examines contemporary q***r bodies, asking how they can be permanently marked - through tattooing, or through transgressing traditional timelines.

‘Can I Hold You?’ features video work and self-portraiture, referencing traditional photographic portraiture to question how non-normative bodies can be represented.

'Can I Hold You?’ is showing at First Site Gallery until 12 June. ⁠

⁠ ⁠
⁠ ⁠

⁠
⁠
⁠
Image 1: Photo of Chloe Rose Thomas by Claire Armstrong.
Images 2-4: Installation views of ‘Can I Hold You?’ by Chloe Rose Thomas, First Site Gallery, Melbourne, 2026. Photos by Christian Capurro.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated the opening of our latest round of student exhibitions at First Site Gallery.

Congratulations to all the artists whose incredible works are display!

'Slip' by Noah Bridger

+ ⁠

'Portable Stillness' by Ko Jou Chen ⁠

+

'Can I Hold You?' by Chloe Rose Thomas

+
⁠
'Boiling Matters' by Elisa Zorraquin

Exhibitions showing until 12 June.

Starting next Tuesday at 12:30pm, join Elisa Zorraquin for ‘Boiling Matters’, a series of artist-led, participatory sessions that prompt reflection, humour and intimacy through a careful choreography of sipping tea.

For more info and to reserve your place, head to the link in our bio.

⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠




First Site Gallery Opening Celebration, May 2026. Images by Claire Armstrong.

RMIT Gallery is delighted to invite you to celebrate the opening of ‘The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place’!

Seen by many as a pivotal figure in twentieth-century American art, Sol LeWitt’s ideas and practices continue to impact a wide range of artists from around the world.

Instigated and directed by Dr Irene Barberis, this exhibition positions Australia at the centre of an ambitious global dialogue on conceptual art, influence and the circulation of ideas.

Thursday 4 June
5:30—7:30pm
RMIT Gallery

Speeches will commence at 6pm. Register your attendance via the link in our bio!

On exhibition 5 June — 29 August

-

Curated by Irene Barberis with Helen Rayment. ⁠
⁠
The Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing is generously loaned by the LeWitt Family and Estate. ⁠
⁠
This exhibition is presented by RMIT University at RMIT Gallery, in collaboration with Metasenta. ⁠
⁠
Graphic design by Zennie McLoughlin. ⁠
⁠
.studio ⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠

First Site Gallery re-opens TODAY with four exciting new exhibitions!

'Slip' by Noah Bridger
+
'Portable Stillness' by Ko Jou Chen
+
'Can I Hold You?' by Chloe Rose Thomas
+
'Boiling Matters' by Elisa Zorraquin

We warmly invite you to join us for our opening celebration tomorrow, Wednesday 20 May, from 5—7pm at First Site Gallery. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served.

Exhibitions showing until 12 June.

⁠





Image: Ko Jou Chen, ‘Portable Stillness’, 2025 (installation view). Balsa wood, brass, copper and fine silver.

It’s International Museums Day!

This year’s theme, ‘Museums Uniting a Divided World’, invites us to acknowledge our potential to foster dialogue across diverse communities and perspectives.

In university museums, we approach sustainable exhibitions as a form of cultural, social and environmental responsibility, and seek to create spaces that encourage exchange, care and shared understanding.

Today, we look back at some of our previous exhibitions that have prioritised adaptable exhibition design, ethical collaboration and research-led practice – positioning the museum as a site where artists, students, researchers and visitors can gather to reflect on our interconnected futures.







Image 1: Installation view, J. Rosenbaum, ‘Gender Tapestry’, 2022 in ‘execute_photography’, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2024. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 2: Gurjeet Singh, ‘A lot to tell’, 2024 (detail) in ‘PRICK! Needlework Now’, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2025. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 3: Alan Adler, ‘Self-portraits’, c. 1975-2005 in ‘Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits’, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2025. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 4: Lauren Berkowitz, ‘Plastic Topographies’, 2022 (left), Heather Hesterman, ‘Florameter’, 2025 (centre) and Annie Frost Nicholson, ‘A Thin Piece of Silk’, 2025 in ‘The Mourning After’, RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Melbourne, 2025. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 5: Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo, ‘tên tôi’ (detail), 2024, in ‘tên tôi’, RMIT First Site Gallery, Melbourne, 2025. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 6: Exhibition signage for ‘Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South’, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2026. Photo by Christian Capurro.

Image 7: Installation view, Ambience Collective, ‘Culture Table, Crawl Space’ at First Site Gallery, 2023. Photo by Sebastian Kainey.

Image 8: Yhonnie Scarce, ‘In the dead house’ (detail), 2020 in ‘Agent Bodies’, 2022, RMIT Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist and THIS IS NO FANTASY. Photo by Tobias Titz.

Image 9: Heather Hesterman, ‘Plantbathing Lab’, 2022 in ‘Archives of Feeling’, 2022, RMIT Design Hub Gallery. Photo by Tobias Titz.

Image 10: Installation view, ‘Wild Hope: Conversations for a Planetary Commons’ at Design Hub Gallery, 2023. Photo by Tobias Titz.