NICHOLAS THOMPSON GALLERY SPRING1883 EXHIBITION IN ART GUIDE’S TOP PICKS OF THE FAIR

At the sneak peak of Spring1883 at Melbourne’s Windsor Hotel, one gallerist declared the event “the art fair that artists love”. Rather than meaning something insular, they meant the spirit of fun and community when around 30 of Australia’s top commercial galleries (and a couple from New Zealand), situate artwork within the old grandeur of the Windsor Hotel rooms.

Art Guide editors Tiarney Miekus and Sally Gearon have curated their top picks:

Nicholas Thompson Gallery: The Circle Room

A few galleries at Spring have a glamorous circular lounge area, and Nicholas Thompson Gallery makes impressive use of the space, housing the abstract works of Eleanor Louise Butt, a geometric screen-like sculpture by Antonia Sellbach, the colourful pieces of Hayley Arjona, and a Rhys Lee painting of Happy couple on a windy day, where the woman’s head is literally blown away by the wind in a haze of paint. There’s also stunning paintings by Elyss McCleary and an acrylic on canvas by Kylie Banyard draped across a bed in another room—many galleries really have made terrific use of the bed this year.