The Hand Held Gallery, Melbourne

A few weeks ago I was very fortunate to receive an expected post on my blog regarding a gallery space I had not yet heard of called the ‘Hand Held’ gallery. Excited about the prospect of somewhere new I visited as soon as able.

Situated on 108 Bourke Street Melbourne,the location of the space itself served as the first surprise install. Living in a less known arcade (Paramount Arcade) at the top of Bourke Street the gallery is somewhat hidden. I always love stumbling down Melbourne’s alleys, as often there are unexpected rewards- new places to eat, new things to see- an experience. Walking into this arcade was no different. There were no overtly polished, glitzy chain-shops to be found; rather an unusual collection of small shops and services nestled side by side. Travel up one escalator and the Hand Held Gallery is. Though the subtle location may not permit ‘mass crowd drawing’ perfection, ironically the ‘displacement’ only ads to the galleries presence. The space rewards anyone who makes the effort to find it.

The interior may be small, but the array of offbeat, unique and hand crafted art pieces of various sizes, shapes and forms fills the room making the overall scale irrelevant. Two main walls act as continuously changing exhibition areas for local artists and sitting next to these are shelves filled with jewellery, sculptures, ex-exhibition pieces, books and zines all hand crafted. Unlike zine store Sticky Institute (situated in Banana Alley- i.e. the shopping area underneath Flinders’ street station) who focus on mostly text based works, the Hand Held gallery has a stronger focus on image-based zines and self published books.

It was interesting to see so many different approaches to particular subjects and innovative ways of using different mediums. The space reminded me of the many stores visited in Berlin that served  to house works of the city’s thriving experimental arts community. Projects like this not only give people the opportunity to share their work, but it also allows for people sharing similar creative interests to cross paths – be it an abstract way.

While browsing there were two pieces in particular that caught my eye that I couldn’t help but pick up. One was a hummingbird paper sculpture by artist Sheridan Jones. Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by birds so it was no surprise it caught my eye. Delicately crafted from paper personally printed with etchings produced by the artist, this sculpture really captures the essence of a humming bird poised and fluttering in flight. My inner child was captivated.

The other piece that struck a chord was the zine ‘The Moth Woman Vigilantes’ created by artist Deborah Klein. The illustrations and concept behind this book are both fun and striking. I’ve always really enjoyed black and white illustration for its starkness and minimalism. The balance of the black and white space in Klein’s drawings make beautiful compositions. The use of line adds to this, be it black on white ground or reverse. I have not yet been able to figure out which vigilante is my favourite as each one is full of character.

If you find yourself in need of exploring somewhere unexpected in Melbourne perhaps the Hand Held Gallery may just be the answer.

Special thanks to both Sheridan Jones and Deborah Klein for allowing me to show photos of their pieces in this post. Further details on both artists as well as the Hand Held gallery can be found below.

 

 

For more information regarding the Hand Held Gallery Please visit:
http://handheldgallery.blogspot.com.au 

More of Sheridan Jones’ work can be found on the following site:
thelaundryroompressandstudio.blogspot.com 
Sheridan is also going to be having a solo show at the Hand Held Gallery in May

More of Deborah Klein’s work can be found on the following site:
http://www.deborahklein.net