Benalla Art Gallery to premiere ACMI Summer blockbuster

Published on 24 November 2022

Jason Phu_Analects of Kung Phu_2021

Benalla Art Gallery will be the Australian premiere venue for a new exhibition from ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) this Summer.

Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection showcases six moving image artworks by Australian artists, and celebrates ACMI’s vibrant collecting and commissioning program.

Benalla Art Gallery Director, Eric Nash, said it was “a coup for the Gallery to be the premiere venue of this significant new national tour. ACMI is the leading museum of screen culture not only in Australia, but internationally. ACMI attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year through their dynamic exhibition program, and millions of visitors online through their varied Collection and education offerings.”

“It’s very exciting for us to be able to transform the Gallery through top quality, immersive projection and augmented reality work, particularly over the Summer period as many families are taking time to be together.”

Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection highlights the opportunity video offers artists to use editing as their primary technique; mixing and matching elements from other films or their own work to tell new stories.

By remixing or rearranging footage they build different rhythms and moods, create hilarious juxtapositions or shed new light on cultural cliches and presumed histories. The works in this exhibition all demonstrate an irrepressible desire to bring deep themes to the surface with humour and an incredible attention to detail.

ACMI’s collection has a rich, 75-year history from its inception as the State Film Centre in 1946. Since its incarnation as ACMI in the early 2000s, the collection has expanded to include artworks and experimental film. ACMI now holds a significant archive of complex, time-based media works and videogames, as well as an ever-expanding repository of digitised content and born-digital material.

ACMI Director & CEO, Seb Chan, said: “ACMI has a proud history of supporting the creation of new Australian moving image works through its commissioning and collecting programs. As part of our touring exhibitions, it’s a joy for us to bring six works to the Benalla Art Gallery via Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection. The featured works demonstrate - in distinct ways - how the moving image can powerfully engage our emotions, our memories and our imaginations.”

Benalla Art Gallery’s hosting of Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection has been made possible with support from Panasonic, local sponsor Ray White Benalla, and through the Victorian Government through the Living Local Regional Grants Program and Engage!

The exhibition will open to the public on Friday 9 December with a talk by artist David Rosetzky and ACMI Senior Curator Fiona Trigg, and continues until 26 February 2023.

Image credit: Jason Phu, Analects of Kung Phu, 2021 (ACMI installation). Photo: Phoebe Powell.