GROUP EXHIBITION

Plus 1 takes this social phenomenon and applies it to exhibition-making. Each gallery artist was invited to bring along someone else—another artist they admire, have long wanted to work with, or feel a creative connection to. Some of the pairings are surprising; others feel inevitable. The show explores the dynamics between practices, revealing how different approaches, materials, and ideas can align—or usefully collide.

With 34 artists across 17 collaborative duos, Plus 1 is one of the most ambitious shows the gallery has presented. It’s exuberant, overflowing, and joyfully messy in the best possible way. Expect unexpected intersections, visual tension, and moments of both harmony and playful dissonance. The result is a generous and high-energy celebration of connection.

To help navigate this lively assembly, The Dowse Art Museum’s Curator, Milly Mitchell-Anyon, steps in as the gallery’s own “plus-one.” Her curatorial perspective brings cohesion to the diverse array of works, ensuring that the exhibition not only celebrates individual collaborations but also resonates as a unified, albeit delightfully unruly, whole.

The contributions span a wide range of disciplines—from fashion to painting, ceramics to jewellery—and are united by shared interests such as language politics, personal histories, and reinterpretations of cultural imagery. Many of the artist relationships are grounded in friendship, mentorship, or mutual respect, underscoring the importance of community in creative life.

Together, these pairings offer a snapshot of contemporary art as a social act: bold, responsive, and deeply invested in making space for others.

Artists included in the exhibition are:

****Alan Ibell + Esther Deans

Ann Shelton + Kirsty Lillico

Caitlin Devoy + Nat Tozer

Caroline McQuarrie + Marci Tackett

Claudia Kogachi + Emma Jing

Denys Watkins + Garth Steeper

Elisabeth Pointon + Deborah Rundle

Emily Hartley-Skudder + Georgina May Young

Erica van Zon + Kate Woods

Hannah Ireland + Reece King

Harry Culy + Michael Mahne Lamb

Jaime Jenkins + Karl Fritsch

Kāryn Taylor + Madeline Hansen

Kereama Taepa + Nikau Hindin

Priscilla Rose Howe + Casey James Latimer

Ruby Wilkinson + Rose Pickernell

Tyne Gordon + Sam Norton

Curatorial Plus 1

****Milly Mitchell-Anyon (Curator at The Dowse Art Museum)