We’re incredibly pleased to announce that we will be reopening the gallery at fortyfivedownstairs on Tuesday 1 December. We can’t wait to welcome our audiences back into the space! The first two exhibitions you will be able to feast your…
Deep and meaningless, the second solo exhibition of fortyfivedownstairs’ online Fragments series features the work of Melbourne artist, James Hale. This collection of artworks, made just prior to or during Melbourne’s extensive lockdown, is piercing in its simplicity, capturing the…
In the first solo exhibition of fortyfivedownstairs’ Fragments series, artist Terry Swann - one of Australia’s foremost contemporary landscape watercolourists - takes us on a journey from the Kimberley to the Pilbara. Since living in the Yarrabah Aboriginal Community, Far…
BOOK TICKETS HERE DOWNLOAD PROGRAM HERE Tickets now on sale for Barry Jones & Friends Celebrate the Arts 3pm Sunday 11 October The October birthday of one of Australia’s most remarkable men, Barry Jones AC, has become an annual opportunity…
Why does art matter? Why should we support the arts? Economic rationalists would point out that most artists are economically unviable. That is true, unfortunately. Creative artists generally have miserable incomes from their art, and survive by teaching or waiting…
We're very pleased to announce HERE, the first exhibition in our Fragments online series, open now! Click here to view the exhibition. HERE brings together 25 accomplished Victorian artists, including Judy Holding, Chris Orr, Lisa Sewards, Marisa Mu, Gavin Brown, Naomi Bishop, Tom Gerrard, Mark Chu and more. The online…
2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, and in times like these the sense of humanity and connection that art can bring is essential. Luckily for us, while the rest of the world has been shutting down, artists have…
A very special gift to fortyfivedownstairs to share with you all. Over a decade ago one of our great friends, the distinguished Melbourne academic Colin Nettelbeck, demonstrated his talents as a jazz pianist and composer at fortyfivedownstairs in a concert that…
Thursday throwback to 2016 and the remarkable production of Resident Alien by Tim Fountain - produced by our very own Cameron Lukey. Paul Capsis was captivating as Quentin Crisp, the legendary author for whom no topic is off limits. Expertly directed…
WEDNESDAY 29 JULY We would like to again express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to Drive to Survive - your generosity and wonderful words of support were overwhelming in what is such a difficult time. Unfortunately, this second…
We're so looking forward to Janno McLaughlin's upcoming exhibition Making Nonsense at fortyfivedownstairs later this year (dates to be announced soon!). Janno has been incredibly busy on many projects these last few months, including this exhibition, with Rose Lang as…
Two tales of performers at fortyfivedownstairs 1: Max Gillies In 2017, Max came to us with a proposal to perform in our theatre. Eventually we whittled the wishlist down to one of the greatest 20th century classics, Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s…
Greetings from Arts HQ in Flinders Lane! We’re still here, but have tried not to bombard you with too many messages as we continue to work towards reopening our beautiful gallery and theatre. At the moment there’s a bit of…
At fortyfivedownstairs, we love to encourage visitor engagement within our gallery spaces. Visual art is so enriching, and even more so when you can talk about it, or even participate in it! Robyn Rich is an artist who consistently and…
We’re still around, and still working on the survival and regeneration plan for gallery and theatre! Thank you to all the friends who have contributed so generously to our appeal for help in opening our doors as soon as social…
3000 Streets is the photographic trace of Mike Reed’s near and far wanderings in the worlds’ arteries with the odd servings of meatier bites than others but always a lean towards the unusual and quirky. The exhibition was due to…
A Monday dive into the archive, and it's a production that's sure to brighten this drab day. Anni & Maude Davey, Anna Lumb and Gabi Barton performed the first Retro Futurismus in our theatre in 2015. Their post-apocalyptic variety show…
Hello to friends of fortyfivedownstairs, written from the bunker! Thank you to all those who have donated to Drive to Survive. Actually, it’s not quite a bunker in a corner of the theatre, it’s a very unbusinesslike corner of the…
We were very excited to be presenting a group exhibition of artists from Hobart's Colville Gallery this year. Unfortunately due to the current situation, the exhibition was unable to be realised in our Melbourne gallery, but you can still view…
If you’ve enjoyed an experience at fortyfivedownstairs, chances are you understand the enormous value the arts bring to our quality of life. You’re probably also well aware that our industry is in crisis. Thanks to the support of our staff,…
James Yuncken is a longtime fortyfivedownstairs exhibitor and supporter. Sadly his exhibition of small paintings of Hong Kong scenes has been postponed, but we couldn’t resist sharing some of our favourite pieces! Keep an eye out here and on our…
As a non-profit exhibition space striving to show diverse, open and thought-provoking art, we've had some excellent group exhibitions at fortyfivedownstairs over the years. One of the more important exhibitions we have hosted was the incredibly moving All We Can't See:…
In 2017, we celebrated our fifteenth birthday, and decided it was a fabulous time to have a group exhibition of fortyfivedownstairs alumni, named 45 at 45. As a result of our unique mission as an unfunded and not-for-profit organisation supporting…
Once seen, never forgotten! The Long Pigs, devised and performed by Clare Bartholomew, Derek Ives-Plunkett and Nicci Wilks, with director Susie Dee, galvanised our audiences in early 2014. Alternately hilarious and horrifying, these are the darkest black-nosed clowns you could…
The Emerging Artist Award is an annual highlight in our gallery's program. Each year, emerging artists from around Australia send through entries to the Award, exemplifying innovation and originality across a range of media, from cutting-edge artistic practices to new…
Great news from the gallery: Alison Percy and Cally Lotz's exhibitions have been moved online, and extended until 18 April! You can view them at your leisure, without leaving your home. Check out Alison Percy's Quietude of the land, the…
fortyfivedownstairs COVID-19 UPDATE April 2020 Thanks to the immediate and generous response of our landlords, fortyfivedownstairs is still in residence, but we’re paddling very hard beneath the surface to stay in a position to re-open when the current health crisis…
Fly review: an emotional slice of Australian opera history Bridget Davies August 26, 2019 ★★★½ If there is an art form where one is to be commended for bucking trends, it's the grand old world of opera. And it's a…
Monday 17 June Cameron Woodhead ★★★ Highbrow types won’t need reminding that Sunday was Bloomsday. Named after the central character in James Joyce’s Ulysses, it’s the date on which that towering monument of modernist fiction was set, and it has…
Saturday 8 June Alison Croggon Love and Shit, an exhilarating double bill by Patricia Cornelius at fortyfivedownstairs, expose the uncomfortable realities of Australia’s underclass. In doing so, these plays remind us how vital theatre can be. Sometimes, I really do…
Sunday 17 March 2019 Irene Bell Heartfelt examination of life and memory World Problems, written and performed by Emma Mary Hall, is a tender look at the way we experience life. Hall recounts memories for the audience, giving equal weight…
Friday 1 March 2019 Alison Croggon ‘As a post-apocalyptic imagining of a US “bombed back to the Stone Age” by its own energy industry, it expresses the dread that pierced the brittle armour of western invulnerability when the proxy wars…
Friday 1 February 2019 Leeor Adar From the get-go, Beng Oh’s direction of Mike Bartlett’s witty work is sharp and arresting. We are thrust into the ring of a domestic dispute between John (Matthew Connell) and his long-term boyfriend, M…
Friday 30 November, 2018 Liza Dezfouli Bottomless, by Dan Lee, premiered this week at fortyfivedownstairs, where its first reading was held in 2015. Directed by Iain Sinclair, Bottomless, which won the RE Ross Trust Script Development Award in 2014, is a…
Bottomless by Dan Lee Kylie Northover 23 November, 2018 Sitting on Smith Street in Collingwood, actor Jack Charles and playwright Dan Lee are sharing horror stories from their days of addiction. Charles, as famously depicted in the 2008 documentary Bastardy,…