GALLERY, GALERIE, GALLERIA is an exhibition that will stage a history of the various and diverg- ing ways that commercial galleries have been utilised by artists, examining and presenting artworks both past and present. The exhibition will encompass works by a cross-generational group of artists – including a number produced specifically for the occasion – some of which will address Norma Mangione Gallery and its location, as well as a historical display com- prised of documentation, artefacts and ephemera related to site-specific and situational works, conceived by artists for other galleries.

All of the artworks included in the exhibition take a wide range of approaches in their use of the commercial gallery as a site for investiga- tion, a starting point, a subject, or as a medium in itself, in order to address, challenge, and intervene both physically and conceptually with this context.

In part, GALLERY, GALERIE, GALLERIA reacts to a somewhat archaic and extreme, yet partially latent argument, suggesting that, as spaces defined by the selling of works of art, commer- cial galleries hinder and prevent any potential for broadening the horizons of art and the staging of exhibitions. Following this argu- ment, rather, it is the museum – a supposedly untainted, sacred and seemingly pure space – that allows innovation, enabling both art and exhibitions to be co-opted into the canon of the historically important, and playing a part in its lineage. In contrast to this view, while the mu- seum traditionally offers a number of benefits not found in the commercial sector, GALLERY, GALERIE, GALLERIA aims to offer and demon- strate a very divergent situation and outlook, and one that presents instances in which artists have proved the contrary, using the commercial gallery in their works creatively, critically and with vital purpose.

A bulletin will be published on the occasion of the exhibition, featuring an essay by the cu- rator elucidating on the core ideas of the show and the works included, and a checklist of the works on display.