Acclaimed street artist Bailer is opening an independent artist-run gallery and studio called, Let’s Pretend on Friday, April 1, 2022. Located in the heart of the Chapel Street precinct, the new creative space aims to support the street art movement by preserving and showcasing works from artists from across the country.
Bailer is a Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist, combining the worlds of street/graffiti with studio art. His work has been shown at notable galleries including Fortyfive downstairs, Per square meter, Gasworks, as well as at numerous festivals and art events across Australia, Asia and Europe.
Let’s Pretend will be dedicated to supporting the practices of emerging, mid-career and established local and visiting artists. The space aims to offer artists an open, creative environment where they can showcase their works while keeping costs to a minimum.
“The last two years of lockdown rocked the creative industry to its core. I decided to create Let’s Pretend with two long-time friends and community-minded creatives to become a space that supports the passion of creatives and operates as a space that puts the artist first, by providing artist residences and keeping exhibiting costs low, ensuring that artists take home more money from all their hard work” says Bailer.
The first show to take residence at Let’s Pretend will be Mixed Messages by Bailer on April 1, 2022. The work draws inspiration from Bailer’s personal narrative, the news and current social climate, pop culture iconography, ancient indigenous cultures, and his long-standing admiration of traditional temple carvings, paintings and designs. All of these inputs have been absorbed then projected onto various surfaces in a myriad of mediums using a big bag of graffiti techniques.
Mixed Messages is set to illustrate Bailer’s ability to move through multiple art styles with cohesion and fluidity, communicating that starkly contrasting thoughts and feelings can be synthesized through a variety of visual mediums.
Book your ticket here.
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