Sally Fitts
We Don’t Know Everything Yet is a series of drawings and sculptures that grew out of Sally’s desire to explore the fundamental questions of human existence. Sally questions what causes us to be capable of the extremes of compassion and…
fortyfivedownstairs galleries' closed
Please note fortyfivedownstairs galleries' are closed until The Laverty Collection presented by Bonhams opens on Friday 15 March. Details on The Laverty Collection exhibition below.
True Love Travels on a Gravel Road
"I laughed out loud at the cleverly handled banter, heightened caricature and ludicrous comedy" - Cameron Woodhead, The Age. A comedy about living the dream. True Love Travels on a Gravel Road by Jane Miller is a new award-winning Australian comedy-drama, set…
Victoria McCaffrey
Upon preparing for this exhibition of prints, Victoria McCaffrey realised that her folio was filled with images of trees; trees which has made their way into her psyche and her artworks without her conscious realisation. These trees are both serene…
Michael Pearce
Unwrapped Hong Kong is a selection of contemporary urban scrolls evolved from artist Michael Pearce’s time as an Artist in Residence at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2007 and 2009. Michael was drawn to the dramatic wrapped…
Clare McFarlane
Murders and Echoes by Clare McFarlane is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne. Recognised in Western Australia for her works that intertwine intricate patterning with detailed illustration, this selection of paintings focuses on her preoccupation with birds. Through her…
Streeton Trio
CURRENTLY POSTPONED Highly acclaimed Streeton Trio return for their second performance at fortyfivedownstairs in 2013. Formed in 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland, from three of Australia’s leading young musicians, the Streeton Trio is the first Australian ensemble to be selected for the prestigious European Chamber Music…
Laugh Pack
fortyfivedownstairs now has a way for you to see all three of its Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows for a fantastic reduced price! Introducing the LAUGH PACK. Either see all three shows on one night, or pick and choose a…
Jenny Peterson Artist Talk
Jenny Peterson is holding an artist talk, speaking about her unconventional printing methods as well as sharing her extensive knowledge of printmaking learnt over her 30 years as a practising artist. Prints of marred road signs and bake-ware make the basis of…
Art Auction for Gay Hawkes
Artist Gay Hawkes, who has exhibited at fortyfivedownstairs on several occasions as well as nationally and internationally over the years, has suffered the loss not only of her home and studio, but her entire archive in the disastrous fires at…
DC3: The Ringtone Cycle
For the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, The DC3 presents ‘The Ringtone Cycle’ – their interpretation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, the gargantuan 16 hour opera which will be performed this year in Melbourne to a select crowd who can afford the…
All Washed Up
No, this isn't a 10 year retrospective on two failed comedians (come back in 7 years), this is what happens when idiot number one decides to cast off a tour boat without the crew, then idiot number two climbs the…
You're Tearing Me Apartment: The Roomsical
THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR THE PRUDISH SO READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK. The Room (Movie) has become a cult staple and is regarded as the Citizen Kane of sh*?@t movies. YOU’RE TEARING ME APARTMENT: THE ROOMSICAL, more a…
Yunuen Pérez and Sissy M. Reyes
Mex-tli is a photographic exhibition that consists of 10 images and a series created by artists Yunuen Pérez Martínez and Sissy M. Reyes, who are based in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively. Their work aims to challenge the stereotypical representation in…
The House of King
A real life story exploring the life and times of Noeleen King, a dynamic fashion designer during the 60s and 70s. The showrooms and factory were housed at 45 Flinders Lane, where 80 women toiled to produce trend-setting fashion in…
Flesh and Bone
KAGE presents the world premiere of Flesh and Bone in March 2013, a bold new work exploring the construction of attraction and our primal need to be connected. This work sees KAGE co-founders Kate Denborough and Gerard Van Dyck return…
A Night of Poetry for Barry Jones
SOLD OUT Barry Jones is one of the more remarkable politicians to have sat in the House of Representatives in Canberra, a much loved and respected figure on both sides of politics. As a tribute for his 80th birthday late…
The Power of Love
The Power of Love is a superb program of some of the world’s best loved poetry selected by Helen Morse, Paul English and ABC radio drama director Anne McInerney. Red roses fade – a love poem lives for ever! What more perfect way…
The Laverty Collection
The Laverty Collection auction will be one of the most important single owner sales to be held in Australia, and as a mark of its significance highlights from the collection will travel to London, New York and Melbourne for viewings…
Gavin Brown
Gavin Brown’s latest body of work takes the viewer on an exploration of the ever changing and ever energetic urban environments that the artist calls his home town. The famous graffiti street art landscapes of Melbourne provide the inspiration for…
Robyn Rich, Karen Lloyd Jones and Catherine Hull Sinclair
Robyn Rich, Karen Lloyd Jones and Catherine Hull Sinclair are consumed by the minutia of everyday life. Their paintings express their preoccupation and love for things that are seldom seen as being of great value; the familiar, the discarded and…
Margaret Gold
In Sketches for a Painting, Margaret Gold explores the concept of disability - both external and internal - by way of the psychological portrait. Margaret's abstract/expressionist style blurs the boundaries between painting and drawing; ably communicating aspects of human frailty…
Gypsy Passion
The passionate and exotic lives of gypsies have fired the imagination of composers for hundreds of years. Join Songmakers Australia on a world-tour of songs inspired by a romantic view of Gypsies' spontaneous love of music and singing. Featuring songs…
Stefano Canturi
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of jewellery designer Stefano Canturi’s work with the unveiling of his first exhibition of drawings, paintings and small scale sculpture. Journey offers a rare insight into the world and mind of Stefano Canturi through…
Jenny Peterson
In Souvenir, Peterson examines the activities of finding and collecting, using a visual symbol familiar to us all: the road sign. Peterson collects broken road signs, intervenes with their already scarred surfaces, and re-presents them as intaglio prints on paper…
Dispelling All Myths
An exhibition which brings together some of Australia’s most refined tattoo artisans including: Geordie Cole, William Yoneyama, Wade Johnston, Biee SaeTang, Zach Hart, Nicole Drager, Mel Williams, Tashi M Dukanovic, Dean Sacred, Caleb Walmsley, Teniele Sadd, Tebi el Camaron and…
Closed for the Christmas break
The galleries will be closed from Saturday 22 December 2012 - Tuesday 22 January 2013 when we reopen with an exhibition of ink drawings by visiting Korean artist Park Sung Soo. Our theatre is also closed to the public from…
Vieux Carré by Tennessee Williams
Sex, art and the search for connection. A young man leaves his family and hometown to broaden his horizons. Nothing unusual in that. But, when the young man is Tennessee Williams and the horizon is the French Quarter of New…
and then there were five
A group exhibition of painting, photography and installation. The artists come from different backgrounds and employ diverse mediums, yet their works and practices repeatedly interconnect. Billinge paints with oils and inks on paper and timber; Chandler's oils on canvas are…
There are Trees that are Dancers
Join us for a special rehearsed reading of There are Trees that are Dancers by Monica Raszewski, a winning script from the R.E. Ross Trust Playwrights’ Script Development Awards 2012. Vera is a writer who became blind in her youth. She visits…
Lina Andonovska
In this special one night only performance, flautist Lina Andonovska presents Lost Compass, Forgotten World, a brutal yet gorgeous program as part of the New Music Network’s 2012 mini-series. Joined by some of Australia’s best interpreters of contemporary music, Andonovska will take…
One World Workshops – cancelled
Sadly, the One World Project is no longer able to go ahead, due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances. For more information please email Abby Storey on [email protected]. Image: lampshade made by Paul Blackman. Part of the commissioned decorations for the…