Celebrate the opening of our triple exhibition bill, marking the first quarter of our fiftieth-anniversary artistic program. Our new shows contend with identity and queerness, morality and comic-book violence.

About the Exhibitions

Last year, Archie Moore won the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Comic Paintings features work he made in 2005, as an emerging artist. The works turn on his sharing his first name with the iconic American comic character, emphasising the difference between his childhood—being bullied and abused, experiencing poverty and shame—and those of the white, middle-class American teen.

Platform 2025 is the second iteration of our annual commissioning project for emerging Queensland artists. Shannon Toth’s assemblages combine timber, confectionary, and sound in sticky performances that evoke the body. Jarrod van der Ryken is known for his moody video installations, evoking spaces of illicit sexual encounter and discovery, dens and beats. Keemon Williams queers tropes of Australianness and indigeneity through comic mischief.

Our screening room will host the first institutional exhibition of Alexey Gerasimov's Skibidi Toilet (2023–ongoing). The viral YouTube phenomenon has become a Gen Alpha cultural touchstone. This machinima series deploys videogame violence and meme culture on an epic scale. Skibidi Toilet stands as a contemporary manifestation of surrealist film, its dreamlike logic at once both banal and disturbing, its undeniable resonance with young people a red flag for contemporary art.

Accessibility

We are committed to making the IMA accessible to people of all abilities, their families, and carers, as well as visitors of different ages and different backgrounds.

The gallery entrance is on the ground floor of the Judith Wright Arts Centre, on Berwick Street. There is wheelchair access and an accessible toilet with baby changing facilities also located on the ground floor, and we welcome guide and support dogs.

If you plan to attend this event and have specific support needs we can accommodate, please contact engagement@ima.org.au, call (07) 3252 5750, or ask our friendly staff on-site. Read our access information for visitors here.⁠