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Exhibitions

Thursday 30 April
2026

Adam Elliot

Making Memoir of a Snail

ACMI
Thursday 8 August – Sunday 1 November

David Bradley

EPOCH

Lyon Housemuseum
Thursday 31 July – Sunday 31 May

Group Show

Darebin Art Prize 2026

Bundoora Homestead Art Centre
Wednesday 25 February – Saturday 20 June

Group Show

TarraWarra International 2026: System Release

TarraWarra Museum of Art
Saturday 21 March – Sunday 5 July

Sam Martin

Contact

Futures Gallery
Thursday 9 April – Saturday 9 May

Aleks Danko

A(GAP)E

McClelland Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 14 June

Group Show

The Chelsea Hotel Years 1967–69

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 16 August

Kait James

Kiss my Moom

Neon Parc
Friday 17 April – Saturday 16 May

Group Show

Future Creatives

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 17 May

Group Show

Art + Language

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 17 May

yEAH / dUNNO

Jon Campbell

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 24 May

Group Show

Minimal

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 17 May

Group Show

A New Universe—Architecture in Print

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 7 June

Lena Becerra

Xenobotany

Blak Dot Gallery
Saturday 11 April – Sunday 3 May

Jeff Raglus

Free Jazz

Boom Gallery
Thursday 23 April – Saturday 16 May

Yoko Georgiou

Flow

Boom Gallery
Thursday 23 April – Saturday 16 May

Adrianne Dimitrakakis

Golden Lands

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Jo Joyce

The Everyday

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

B.Ballirò

Practica.

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Kel Ward

Country Wide

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Group Show

A Thousand Words

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

John Perceval

All That We Are

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 21 March – Sunday 12 July

Simone Slee

Light Time

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 28 March – Sunday 28 June

Badra Aji

Get the boy a dog and call it a day

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 16 August

Group Show

De / formed

Five Walls
Friday 10 April – Saturday 2 May

Edwin Devril

seeing you at a distance

West Space
Saturday 21 March – Tuesday 5 May

Group Show

Octopus 26: Melange

Gertrude Contemporary
Saturday 11 April – Saturday 30 May

Moorina Bonini

We Were Never Meant to be Contained

Gertrude Glasshouse
Friday 17 April – Saturday 16 May

Julius von Bismarck

This is not the storm

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Friday 17 April – Sunday 14 June

Group Show

Surface Tension

No Vacancy
Tuesday 28 April – Saturday 9 May

Aleks Danko

An Ecology of Ideas

Sutton Gallery
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 16 May

Rachael Robb

In Time

Sutton Gallery
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 16 May

Sean Whelan

Magical Thinking

Outré Gallery Fitzroy
Friday 20 March – Sunday 12 April

Sean Whelan is an Australian artist based in Hobart, Tasmania. Specialising in acrylic painting, he creates hyper-coloured surreal compositions that merge figuration, symbolism and theatrical design. His influences range from 17th-century European Baroque painting to the Japanese Superflat movement.

Born in Melbourne in 1981, Whelan exhibits in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Artist Statement

Magical thinking is a familiar habit: the tendency to turn experiences into a story, reshaping something complex so meaning becomes easier to hold.

In this body of work, I draw on this idea to depict a series of staged scenes. Figures wear masks and costumes that assign them roles – preparing for rituals, dancing, performing music and playing out transformative rites.

Some look joyful, others reluctant, grotesque or monstrous. And while there is an underlying absurdity to these activities, the figures are invested in what they are doing. The performances are sincere, even when the logic behind them is unclear.

Fantasy offers a promise – a role, a decisive action and the sense that something will be resolved. Magical Thinking grew from an interest in how easily this structure is adopted, rehearsed, and believed.

Location

Outré Gallery Fitzroy
319 Smith Street, Fitzroy VIC, Australia

Date

Friday 20 March – Sunday 12 April

Save to Calendar

Website

https://www.outregallery.com/collections/sean-whelan-magical-thinking

All exhibition content on this website has been sourced from the exhibiting gallery’s website or provided by other art enthusiasts. We do not own or seek to own any of this material. If you are concerned about any misuse of your content, please let us know here.

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Suggest an edit or change to this exhibition

Exhibition information

Personal information

Exhibitions

Thursday 30 April
2026

Adam Elliot

Making Memoir of a Snail

ACMI
Thursday 8 August – Sunday 1 November

David Bradley

EPOCH

Lyon Housemuseum
Thursday 31 July – Sunday 31 May

Group Show

Darebin Art Prize 2026

Bundoora Homestead Art Centre
Wednesday 25 February – Saturday 20 June

Group Show

TarraWarra International 2026: System Release

TarraWarra Museum of Art
Saturday 21 March – Sunday 5 July

Sam Martin

Contact

Futures Gallery
Thursday 9 April – Saturday 9 May

Aleks Danko

A(GAP)E

McClelland Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 14 June

Group Show

The Chelsea Hotel Years 1967–69

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 16 August

Kait James

Kiss my Moom

Neon Parc
Friday 17 April – Saturday 16 May

Group Show

Future Creatives

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 17 May

Group Show

Art + Language

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 17 May

yEAH / dUNNO

Jon Campbell

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 24 May

Group Show

Minimal

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 17 May

Group Show

A New Universe—Architecture in Print

Geelong Gallery
Saturday 28 February – Sunday 7 June

Lena Becerra

Xenobotany

Blak Dot Gallery
Saturday 11 April – Sunday 3 May

Jeff Raglus

Free Jazz

Boom Gallery
Thursday 23 April – Saturday 16 May

Yoko Georgiou

Flow

Boom Gallery
Thursday 23 April – Saturday 16 May

Adrianne Dimitrakakis

Golden Lands

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Jo Joyce

The Everyday

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

B.Ballirò

Practica.

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Kel Ward

Country Wide

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

Group Show

A Thousand Words

Brunswick Street Gallery
Thursday 16 April – Sunday 3 May

John Perceval

All That We Are

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 21 March – Sunday 12 July

Simone Slee

Light Time

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 28 March – Sunday 28 June

Badra Aji

Get the boy a dog and call it a day

Heide Museum of Modern Art
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 16 August

Group Show

De / formed

Five Walls
Friday 10 April – Saturday 2 May

Edwin Devril

seeing you at a distance

West Space
Saturday 21 March – Tuesday 5 May

Group Show

Octopus 26: Melange

Gertrude Contemporary
Saturday 11 April – Saturday 30 May

Moorina Bonini

We Were Never Meant to be Contained

Gertrude Glasshouse
Friday 17 April – Saturday 16 May

Julius von Bismarck

This is not the storm

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Friday 17 April – Sunday 14 June

Group Show

Surface Tension

No Vacancy
Tuesday 28 April – Saturday 9 May

Aleks Danko

An Ecology of Ideas

Sutton Gallery
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 16 May

Rachael Robb

In Time

Sutton Gallery
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 16 May

Sean Whelan

Magical Thinking

Outré Gallery Fitzroy
Friday 20 March – Sunday 12 April

Sean Whelan is an Australian artist based in Hobart, Tasmania. Specialising in acrylic painting, he creates hyper-coloured surreal compositions that merge figuration, symbolism and theatrical design. His influences range from 17th-century European Baroque painting to the Japanese Superflat movement.

Born in Melbourne in 1981, Whelan exhibits in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Artist Statement

Magical thinking is a familiar habit: the tendency to turn experiences into a story, reshaping something complex so meaning becomes easier to hold.

In this body of work, I draw on this idea to depict a series of staged scenes. Figures wear masks and costumes that assign them roles – preparing for rituals, dancing, performing music and playing out transformative rites.

Some look joyful, others reluctant, grotesque or monstrous. And while there is an underlying absurdity to these activities, the figures are invested in what they are doing. The performances are sincere, even when the logic behind them is unclear.

Fantasy offers a promise – a role, a decisive action and the sense that something will be resolved. Magical Thinking grew from an interest in how easily this structure is adopted, rehearsed, and believed.

Location

Outré Gallery Fitzroy
319 Smith Street, Fitzroy VIC, Australia

Date

Friday 20 March – Sunday 12 April

Save to Calendar

Website

https://www.outregallery.com/collections/sean-whelan-magical-thinking

All exhibition content on this website has been sourced from the exhibiting gallery’s website or provided by other art enthusiasts. We do not own or seek to own any of this material. If you are concerned about any misuse of your content, please let us know here.

Suggest a change

Suggest an edit or change to this exhibition

Exhibition information

Personal information

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