Gertrude is Australia’s leading laboratory for contemporary art. Its artistic program – including the studio and exhibition program – is unique in its equal emphasis on the production and presentation of contemporary art.
In 1985, Gertrude led the way as Australia’s first combined gallery and studio complex, a model it continues to operate today. First established under the name of 200 Gertrude Street, from the outset the organisation was dedicated to the production and presentation of experimental and contemporary art. The organisation expanded, transforming from an address to an entity, and changing its name along the way to Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces in 2000 and then to Gertrude Contemporary in 2010. In July 2017, Gertrude Contemporary relocated its primary venue to 21-31 High Street, Preston South, converting a furniture warehouse of yesteryear into a thriving hub of arts practice.
As Melbourne’s leading centre for contemporary art and ideas, the organisation has continued to build on its innovative origins, growing to facilitate the expanding field of contemporary art through a wide variety of exhibition, studio, curatorial, education and public programs. With artists firmly placed at the centre of all of our activities, we champion risk and experimentation.
Since 1985 we have accumulated a vast alumni of past exhibiting and studio artists including some of Australia’s leading names in contemporary art. This community of Australia’s most pivotal contemporary artists has expanded in recent years to include our increasing international presence, with leading artists and curators from all over the world joining us on residency and exhibiting in our galleries. As a key generator for ideas in Australia, and with the momentum of our history behind us, Gertrude Contemporary is now one of the oldest, continually running contemporary art centres in Australia.
Perimeter is a specialised bookstore, award-winning publisher, distribution house and platform for various art publishing endeavours in Melbourne, Australia.
Founded in 2011, Perimeter Books stocks a selective range of independently published books, editions and zines spanning photography, art, theory, text and the more lateral ends of design and architecture. The store also curates an active program of exhibitions, talks, launches, workshops and consultations, and co-presents Volume: Another Art Book Fair with Printed Matter Inc. (NY) and Artspace (Sydney). In 2012, Perimeter launched its in-house publishing imprint Perimeter Editions, which has since gone on to publish more than eighty titles, winning several awards and exhibiting at key art book fairs in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Perimeter Editions also publishes two biennial book prizes – the Perimeter Small Book Prize and the PHOTO x Perimeter International Photobook Prize. Perimeter Distribution, the business’s wholesale arm, began trade in 2013, and now represents some of the world’s leading independent photography, art, design and theory publishers. Perimeter Distribution is also the Australian/NZ sales agent for global Amsterdam-based distribution house Idea Books.
Perimeter has curated various outposts and libraries for institutions, galleries and spaces, including Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) and Book Coffee Print Work Shop in Melbourne, Hotel Hotel and Nishi Gallery in Canberra, and the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) in Brisbane.
