May 14 – May 24

Whole Gallery

Art Nouveau Meets Post Baroque presents two simultaneous exhibitions: Brea Lanyon: Harvest, a sculptural series in blackened steel, and Studio Onyx, a collective working in white plaster, jesso and  paper. Through materially opposed practices, the exhibitions explore ornament, revivalism and structural tension—revisiting historic aesthetic languages through contemporary form and material discipline.

Our dual exhibition for Melbourne Design Week: Art Nouveau Meets Post Baroque examines the return of ornament and excess through contemporary material practice. Across two simultaneous exhibitions, blackened steel and white plaster become opposing yet interdependent languages—weight and lightness, density and relief, industrial force and architectural delicacy.

In Harvest, Brea Lanyon works with blackened steel to construct forms that feel both tensile and organic. Curvilinear gestures recall the vegetal movement of Art Nouveau, yet the material asserts a post-industrial rigidity. Steel is bent, welded and balanced into structures that oscillate between growth and containment—ornament reimagined as structure rather than surface.

In contrast, Studio Onyx presents a body of work in white plaster, drawing from Baroque architectural relief and sculptural embellishment. Their practice emphasises light, shadow and depth, using plaster as a medium of both fragility and monumentality. Surfaces appear carved yet contemporary; ornate without nostalgia.

Presented together, the exhibitions create a spatial dialogue: black absorbs while white reflects; mass confronts void; line confronts volume. Rather than revival, the works propose a translation—historic aesthetic languages reframed through contemporary material logic.

We will be hosting Three events over the course of the 10 week show, including: Opening Reception, Panel discussion with our guest speaker as well as a final casual walkthrough with the artists to get an in-depth understanding of the works.

More details to come.