Last Tuesday 29 March, the Year 12 VCE Art class went on an excursion to the 2022 Top Arts gallery at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square. The annual exhibition is part of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority’s annual VCE Season of Excellence. It presents the exceptional and thought-provoking work of VCE Art and VCE Studio Arts, showcasing a range of media, topics, schools and students.
Top Arts highlights the resilience and creative essence of young artists, who have used art and design to explore and understand the world around them. Particularly, this year’s work grappled with the common motif of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges that presented themselves with the circumstances of Melbourne’s lockdowns. Comprising work selected from applicants across Victoria, the exhibition encompasses a range of media and mediums including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, digital and mixed media. The exhibition includes personal motifs and notions around identity, time, home, social issues, and our connection to the natural world. The 2022 exhibitors were selected based on a certain criteria, including conceptual development, technical excellence, aesthetic considerations, awareness of past and contemporary art practices, individuality and innovation.
The Carey Year 12 VCE Art students found this excursion to be incredibly worthwhile as we could actively engage with and take note on the works created by previous VCE Art students. It was inspiring and motivational to view works that highlighted the NGV’s strong commitment to arts education, as well as its role as a platform for young people to express their diverse ideas, values, beliefs and attitudes.
After viewing the extensive gallery, the Year 12 VCE Art students had the opportunity to examine the developmental work behind the exhibits, through carefully viewing past students’ folios. Through this experience, many of us were able to clearly understand the correlation between the brainstorm of ideas in their folios with reference to their final composition. Viewing their visual folios enabled many of us to mentally note and set goals on what we personally want to achieve this year in VCE Art. Overall this year’s VCE Year 12 Art class are incredibly grateful for the experience of attending Top Arts 2022. The exhibition has inspired us to implement many of the techniques and mediums on display in our own practice this year, and many of us have become motivated to apply for Top Arts in 2023.
Olivia
Year 12 VCE Art student
