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fortyfivedownstairs fortyfivedownstairs is an independent Melbourne based theatre and gallery located in Flinders Lane
(582)

22/10/2026

'Slipping Sideways' by Dorothy Lipmann is now open at fortyfivedownstairs!

The exhibition will continue until Saturday 31st October.

Opening hours Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4pm.

NOW OPEN: ‘Slivers of Time’ by Suzanne .k. FranklinYou are invited to attend the opening night tonight 5-7 pm.The exhibi...
20/10/2026

NOW OPEN: ‘Slivers of Time’ by Suzanne .k. Franklin

You are invited to attend the opening night tonight 5-7 pm.

The exhibition will continue until Saturday 31 October 2026.

Artworks available to purchase on our website. Follow the link in our bio.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4 pm.

Image credits: ‘Slivers of Time’, installation view, 2026. Photographed by George Jefford.

NOW OPEN: ‘Slipping Sideways’ by Dorothy LipmannYou are invited to attend the opening night tonight 5-7 pm.The exhibitio...
20/10/2026

NOW OPEN: ‘Slipping Sideways’ by Dorothy Lipmann

You are invited to attend the opening night tonight 5-7 pm.

The exhibition will continue until Saturday 31 October 2026.

Artworks available to purchase on our website. Follow the link in our bio.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4 pm.

Image credits: ‘Slipping Sideways’, installation view, 2026. Photographed by George Jefford.

FINAL DAYS: ‘Twelve’ by St Michael's Grammar School ()The exhibition will close this Saturday 17 October 2026.Opening ho...
16/10/2026

FINAL DAYS: ‘Twelve’ by St Michael's Grammar School ()

The exhibition will close this Saturday 17 October 2026.

Opening hours: Thursday - Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4 pm.

Image credits: ‘Twelve’, installation view, 2026. Photographed by George Jefford.

FINAL DAYS: ‘The Community Art Card Project’ by Robert Lee Davis ( )The exhibition will close this Saturday 17 October 2...
16/10/2026

FINAL DAYS: ‘The Community Art Card Project’ by Robert Lee Davis ( )

The exhibition will close this Saturday 17 October 2026.

Join us tonight for a closing celebration from 4.30 - 6.30.

There is still time to make your own collage.

Opening hours: Thursday - Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4 pm.

Image credits: ‘The Community Art Card Project’, installation view, 2025. Photographed by George Jefford.

14/10/2026

'Twelve' by St Michael's Grammar School (St Michael's Grammar School) is now showing at fortyfivedownstairs!

The exhibition will end this Saturday 17 October so make sure to see it before it closes.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4pm.

OPENING NEXT WEEK: ‘Slipping Sideways’ by Dorothy LipmannOpening Night | Tuesday 20 October, 5 – 7 pmExhibition runs | 2...
14/10/2026

OPENING NEXT WEEK: ‘Slipping Sideways’ by Dorothy Lipmann

Opening Night | Tuesday 20 October, 5 – 7 pm
Exhibition runs | 20 - 31 October 2026

Artist Statement:
Slipping sideways is to move outside, from the predictable into the unknown. Its an asymmetrical movement indicating uneasiness and discomfort, with a sense of impermanence and loss of control. The concept of slipping sideways encompasses the absurd, out of character, not normal, and free of directness.

More elderly women are becoming homeless who have never faced circumstances outside of their control before. This is a re-occurring theme in my work which involves memory and a sense of injustice since I started exhibiting in 1987. It allows for hybrid forms to go off at a tangent into something you don’t know what you are looking at. It is crossing a line with what society chooses not to see, and how it views women who don’t conform to its norms. The point is, it could be anyone, battling for visibility and wanting to be treated with humanity.

The essence is towards a unity of opposites even when the present is unpredictable and uncertain. This is about finding the extraordinary in something very ordinary, where something seen sparks the imagination and gives total freedom to paint exactly as we please.

This exhibition also depicts paintings from the Pilbara, where I saw Burrup Peninsula rock art (petroglyphs) being sacrificed for mining.

I see a commonality between our attitude to homelessness and our reluctance to control mining excesses.

I want to give form and feeling to concerns such as what it is like to live rootless, as a drifter without a home or connections, and to live in a landscape that we mythologise yet exploit.

Images:
1. ‘Poisoned Rock’, Dorothy Lipmann, 2026, oil on linen, 61.5 x 76 cm (detail).
2. ‘Cheryl’, Dorothy Lipmann, 2026, oil on linen, 91 x 60 cm.
3. ‘The Lionesses Down Under’, Dorothy Lipmann, 2026, oil on linen, 76 x 84 cm.
4. ‘The Cage’, Dorothy Lipmann, 2025, oil on linen, 56 x 45 cm.

OPENING NEXT WEEK: ‘Slivers of Time: an exhibition of drawings’ by Suzanne .k. Franklin Opening Night | Tuesday 20 Octob...
13/10/2026

OPENING NEXT WEEK: ‘Slivers of Time: an exhibition of drawings’ by Suzanne .k. Franklin

Opening Night | Tuesday 20 October, 5 – 7 pm
Exhibition runs | 20 - 31 October 2026

Perth based artist Suzanne .k. Franklin (sue.k.) returns to Melbourne with a new body of work. Further exploring her materialist positioning as an artist, the development of the work for Slivers of Time adhered to strict rules of format and composition with the motif of a single sphere and an horizon line becoming simply devices for navigating space. Freed is the exploration and discovery of the material of the medium of Inktense Pencil.

By approaching the production of the work in a diaristic structure, with an addition of writing down thoughts and feelings relevant to the day when a drawing was completed, each work provides a slice of time framed and hung one-by-one in a row that mimics that of a filmstrip. Moments caught in time.

Full of colour and texture, the work pushes the boundaries between drawing and painting while concurrently capturing the passing of time.

Images:
1. ‘31st May 2025: Dear Diary...’, Suzanne .k. Franklin, inktense pencil on 300gsm Fabriano Artistico 100% cotton paper, 32 x 8 cm (framed 43 x 19 cm).
2. ‘14th March 2025: Dear Diary...’, Suzanne .k. Franklin, inktense pencil on 300gsm Fabriano Artistico 100% cotton paper, 32 x 8 cm (framed 43 x 19 cm).
3. ‘20th May 2025: Dear Diary...’, Suzanne .k. Franklin, inktense pencil on 300gsm Fabriano Artistico 100% cotton paper, 32 x 8 cm (framed 43 x 19 cm).

Thinking of entering SMALL! but still have a few questions?We’ve put together these handy FAQs to help you get your SMAL...
12/10/2026

Thinking of entering SMALL! but still have a few questions?

We’ve put together these handy FAQs to help you get your SMALL! submission ready.

Now in its 6th year, SMALL! is our annual open-call exhibition celebrating artists of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels - from child artists and first-time creators to established professionals.

With every submitted artwork exhibited in our gallery on Flinders Lane in Melbourne’s C*D, as long as so the work measures 20 x 20 cm or less, SMALL! is all about creating an inclusive opportunity for artists.

We welcome a diverse range of styles and media, and every artwork is displayed anonymously and priced at $160, creating a level playing field where visitors choose their favourites based on the work itself.

Submissions close: Monday 9 November 2026, 5pm
Exhibition: 3–17 December 2026

Have a question we haven’t covered? Head to the link in our bio for the submission form and full FAQs.

! !2026 fortyfivedownstairs flinderslane flinderslaneart fortyfivealive melbournegallery whatsonmelb whatsonmelbourne

09/10/2026

'The Community Art Card Project' by Robert Lee (Robert Lee Davis) in collaboration with St Michael's Grammar School is now showing at fortyfivedownstairs!

We welcome you to participate in the shows fourth iteration. Come visit and create your own collage!

The exhibition will continue until Saturday 17 October.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-4pm.

Address

45 Flinders Lane
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12pm - 7pm
Wednesday 12pm - 7pm
Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 12pm - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+61396629966

Website

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