SLOW READ
We are delighted to be showing three works as part of Slow Read, including an extended version of A fleeting sense of.
Slow Read
Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn Arts Centre, 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn
Wednesday 6th of May – Sunday 25th of July, 2026
In an era of constant scrolling and visual saturation, Slow Read turns our attention back to the printed page and to quiet, deliberate acts of looking and reading. The featured artists are all drawn to printed matter, creating artist books and multi-disciplinary artworks that explore the possibilities of the book format. Within this exhibition, artist-led publishing is recognised as a rich creative practice and an art form in its own right.
By engaging with the universally familiar features of the book format, artists can experiment within or outside of its defined conventions. Unique approaches to sequence, structure and design informs the pace and duration of the reading journey, while the interplay of text and image suggests evocative textures, prompting an imaginative experience that may unfold differently on each encounter.
Many of the featured artworks have been created with source materials from the artists’ own extensive personal collections, where subject and thematic focused text and imagery have been lifted from culture magazines, art history books, archives and more. The extracted fragments are recontextualised through collage and assemblage, inviting us to slow down and engage with these works — allowing our imaginations to wander through poetic new combinations and sometimes unexpected pairings.
Featuring: Jacky Cheng, Zoë Croggon, Julie Gough, Gracia & Louise, Nadia Hernández, Deborah Kelly, Martin King, David Noonan and Jayda Wilson.
Presented in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival.
Town Hall Gallery
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3rd of May, 2026
