Returning for its 31st year, Top Arts 2025 celebrates the incredible creativity of Victoria’s emerging artists. Opening on 14 March at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, this year’s exhibition highlights the exceptional talent of 40 students from across Victoria who have excelled in the VCE subjects of Art Making and Exhibiting, as well as Art Creative Practice.
TOP ARTS 2025: Showcasing Victoria’s Best Young Artists at NGV
"NGV’s annual Top Arts exhibition continues to be a celebrated platform for emerging young artists, showcasing the next generation of creative talent across Victoria."
Tony Ellwood AM
Director, NGV
Top Arts 2025 Exhibition
The exhibition features a diverse range of works, spanning various mediums, including moving images, digital media, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, textiles, and sculpture.
Each piece tells a compelling story, with themes that explore cultural identity, personal experiences, the beauty of everyday life, and broader subjects such as knowledge and nature.
Copper Lining
– Please Don’t Touch the Artwork
One standout work is Copper Lining (Please Don’t Touch the Artwork) by Eden Thomas. This installation, which examines the power of knowledge and attention in an age of information manipulation, features a large copper panel embossed with Braille text reading “Please don’t touch the artwork.” The piece creates an ironic paradox, inviting viewers to touch while restricting access, and prompts reflection on how knowledge can be hidden or made inaccessible. Developed in consultation with Vision Australia, the artwork challenges ideas about perception and accessibility.
My Life
Ethan Mangopoulos’s photo series, My Life, explores his journey of growth and self-discovery as he transitions into adulthood. Using vibrant colours and textured layers reminiscent of X-ray scans, the series visually captures his experiences of coming of age, navigating shifting relationships, and finding his place in the world.
Our Rooms
In Our Rooms, Meg Kane’s intimate photographic series delves into personal identity by capturing her friends in their bedrooms, surrounded by objects that reflect their interests and subcultures. The portraits are paired with objects from each sitter’s room, highlighting the way personal spaces influence identity and how we curate our environments to express ourselves to others.
Hold Me Gently
First Nations artist Eva Philippiadis’s woven basket artwork, Hold Me Gently, reflects on the interconnectedness of culture, family, and personal influences. Adorned with delicate oyster shells and inscribed boab nuts bearing phrases like “Please Hold Me Gently,” the work evokes the tenderness of physical and spiritual connections between family and identity, offering a powerful reflection on shared heritage.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION – TOP ARTS 2025
DATE: 14 March – 2o July 2025
TIME: 10 am – 5 pm
VENUE: The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
PRICE: FREE
WEBSITE
It’s an unmissable opportunity to experience the creative visions of Victoria’s brightest young artists.
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