Naarm /Melbourne-based arts worker, Gab Lewis applies her background in fine arts and experience in the creative industry to her emerging curatorial practice. With a focus on improving accessibility and approachability in arts and culture informing her rationale.
Drawing on the recurrent notions of familiarity found throughout her own painting discipline, Gab also employs this thinking to her curatorial exploration – feeding into the idea of evoking commonality through theme as a means of connection.
The Commonplace curatorial research project endeavours to address the disparity in audience engagement with arts and culture. By placing a deliberate focus on practices that capture or depict the everyday and commonplace, the exhibition aims to bridge the gap between creative communities and the general public – with curatorial considerations informed by the research findings and applied to the resulting exhibition proposal.
The conceptual parameters urge the six artists involved to consider ideas of connection through their varying practices, prompting the audience to draw on familiarity in theme yet perhaps finding themselves outside of the familiar in the context of viewing experience, aiming to cultivate both social inclusion and stimulating engagement.