It is always interesting to look at what is on exhibition at Arc One. The art is always of a very…read morehigh quality, I may not always like it, but I never have any doubts about the quality of the art. Arc One is a serious commercial gallery that represents some major Australian artists including Imants Tillers, Lyndell Brown and Charles Green. This is art museum quality work that is way beyond my finances to buy but it is free to look at it. This time when I went in there was an exhibition of paintings by a notable local artist. In the past I've seen sculpture and photography on exhibition in Arc One's large gallery. The large gallery space is a white walled, wooden floor and a high ceiling. There is a large office space off to one side - the gallery staff in the office don't pay that much attention to the casual visitor like myself, they don't even say hello. Not that I care I don't want to be distracted from looking at the paintings.

This is a pretty amazing arts space and they show a consistent stream of local and international…read moreart (mostly photography). We were lucky enough to attend a salon with Patti Smith there a few years back and man was I blown away. She was touring at the time and the centre was showing a collection of photographs of Smith's things taken by a documentary film maker that had been documenting her work. The large room there was the perfect place to chill on the floor and absorb the work while Smith regaled us with stories of her artistic and personal life. It's something I'll never forget. What was even cooler was that when we were leaving, Patti cruised past in the back of a car, wound down the window and said hello. We thanked her for being amazing and she bid us a great afternoon. Check this space out. It looks a little serious from the outer, but it's a treasure trove of corners and little maze-like rooms inside.

I regularly visit the CCP to see good photography exhibitions. It is Melbourne's premier gallery…read morefor photographic art exhibitions featuring exhibitions by local and international photographers. Often are three exhibitions on at this gallery at any time, two small exhibitions and one large exhibition in the main gallery space. The CCP is a not-for-profit gallery aimed at exhibiting photography and education. The photographs on exhibition are not for sale, although there is a small shop in the reception area that does sell photography books and Lomo cameras. The elegantly designed gallery is wheelchair accessible, unlike so many of Melbourne's galleries. Photo based art has changed in the last decade; there are a lot more video art on exhibition and the exhibitions have become noisy with video soundtracks mixing together in the spiraling space of the CCP galleries.

This is the first of the galleries in Albert Street there are four more on this very short street…read morein Richmond. Albert Street is a good place to start if you want to see some of the best, new contemporary art in Melbourne. The gallery has several large windows at the front giving people walking by a preview of the art within. It is an elegantly converted former factory space with white walls, high ceilings, track lighting and polished concrete floors. There is an office/reception area at the front and a stock room somewhere out the back, but it's not open to the public. As a commercial gallery it represents many notable, contemporary Australian artists including sculptor and taxidermist Julia deVille, painter Michael Zavros and photographer Selina Ou. There are monthly exhibitions from the artists represented in the gallery.

Some of the best art you will see in Australia, artists like, Julia Da Ville, Michael Zavros, Danie…read moreMellor, Selena Ou, and currently Vera Möller. Also Nicholas Harding and a whole raft of younger artists. Its low key and not at all pretentious. Edwin the gallery manager is a delight. Richmond is hard to find a car park, so public transport is the best.

Next door to the Brunswick Town Hall building, this medium-sized art gallery showcases established…read moreand emerging artists with new exhibitions each month. I'm fond of the Counihan Gallery for giving me my first opportunity to see a Ron Mueck larger-than-life sculpture in all its looks-so-real-it-is-spooky glory. That's right - even before the NGV brought a whole gang of Mueck's eerily human sculptures to the masses, the Counihan brought it to Brunswick. The standard of the other works in the same exhibition was evidence of a talented and professional curator with his or her finger on the contemporary art pulse. Lucky are we in Brunswick to have such a high calibre of art dropped in our laps like this. I'm looking forward to their annual Womens Salon exhibition showcasing the creations of women artists, designers and craftworkers from the Moreland area, which opens on 17th November.

A public art gallery, Counihan Gallery is focussed on exhibiting and promoting contemporary…read moreAustralian artists whose work is centred on the discussion or promotion of "innovation and diversity in the visual arts". There's always a mix of established and emerging artists showcased, and there's a few call outs for exhibit proposals from local and interstate artists each year. Like everything else focussed on contemporary art, the art showcased varies considerably in theme, style, form, subject etc. and will inevitably attract a different audience from exhibit to exhibit. The space is designed to maximise flexibility and accommodate a wide range of installations, and cam be quite transformed from one exhibit to the next. Like most public galleries, it's free to view, so it's a good way for the financially challenged art lover to get his or her fix. Some of the art can be quite political, so it'll also appeal to people who like their art challenging or high minded and intellectual.

While often passed over in favour of the more obvious NGV, RMIT Gallery has played host to some…read morepretty amazing exhibitions in the past. Particularly special was 'Somewhat Different: Contemporary Design and the Power of Convention.' The gallery showcased the work of more than 100 mostly German and European designers who approached "conventional" design tasks in an unusual manner. There was a wonky bookshelf, a vacuum cleaner chair and a whole range of other every day objects rendered in an extremely inventive manner. Quirky and fun, I was so impressed by this exhibition that I have been back to RMIT a number of times since just to see what they have going on. The gallery always draws a great range of local and international artists and hosts the kooky concepts that the larger galleries can't get away with. From revolutionary Chinese art to Japanese anime figures and Australian street art, there's something for everyone. Conveniently located right in the centre of the city this is a space that it always worth checking out.

Aside from the National Gallery this is one of the best galleries in Melbourne. I always expect top…read morequality exhibitions at this gallery in Storey Hall at RMIT and I'm rarely disappointed when I visit. This time I saw the "Space Invaders", a traveling exhibition of street art from National Gallery of Australia. It is an amazing exhibition with work all these great Melbourne stencil artists. I'm glad that I didn't go all the way to Canberra to see this exhibition because Canberra is a boring place and RMIT Gallery is more convenient - it is diagonally opposite Melbourne Central. I have seen the exhibition twice because it is so easy to get there. RMIT gallery has a foyer with an information desk and lockers for school groups - they do give free floor talks to groups but I haven't been on any of these. There is one very large gallery space and two smaller adjoining spaces. The exhibitions change every two months and entry is free.

When I arrived at Fehily Contemporary the guy behind the desk offered me a cup of coffee or tea;…read morethat was the first time that I've been greeted in such hospitality at a contemporary art gallery. However as it was the first destination in my day I declined. It was the first time that I've been to Fehily Contemporary, a new commercial gallery in the growing Collingwood gallery scene. It is located down a narrow lane amidst the wholesale fashion warehouses around Wellington St. The gallery is a well-designed warehouse conversion with a main ground floor gallery with a high ceiling and a small loft gallery above office/storage space. American artist, Angela Ellsworth was exhibiting in the main gallery. Upstairs, in the 'loft', there was a small exhibition by a Chinese artist, Chen Fei and the Bhutanese Textile Project. On the first Thursday night of the 3 week exhibitions there are exhibition opening events.

My favorite gallery in Melbourne!!! Everyone here is super awesome and the art is so cool!!!read more

Place Gallery is a large beautifully renovated factory space. The single L shaped gallery has a…read morepolish concrete floor, track lighting and white walls. It is very close to Richmond railway station where there are a lot of factory and warehouse conversions underway. Place Gallery has regular monthly exhibitions of the work of the Australian contemporary artists that it represents. These are mostly mid-career or emerging artists like: Ange Leech, Van Rudd and Peter Davidson. I went to there to see their exhibition of Glenn Morgan. The one of gallery's director, Trevor Fuller came out from the back of the gallery and talked about the artist and the exhibition with me. I had seen Glenn Morgan's dioramas at the Basil Sellers Art Prize last year and I wanted to see more.

A really cool art gallery on the main drag of Melbourne!…read more This gallery is sleek and modern, with large scale works of art done by local Aborigines. The art is all very thoughtful, and there's a lot of meaning behind the pieces, which the gallery does a good job of demonstrating through pamphlets and signage. The gallery has a bunch of prints for sale, as well as smaller works of art that'd look great on your Outback ranch house. The stuff seemed really authentic, but was completely out of my price range. This kinda stuff isn't so much for the tourist, but the serious collector. The gallery had so many works of art, that some of them were displayed laying on the floor, and I was terrified I'd step backwards and ruin one of them!