Perth Voice Interactive

IT’S one of WA’s longest running artist-run initiatives, but many folk will have never heard of Gotham Studios.

Situated on James Street in the heart of Perth, it’s essentially a working space for artists in the inner-city.

It sounds like something that should be common place and a no-brainer, but with more and more CBD buildings converted into trendy flats, cafes and small bars, affordable studio space in the city is dwindling at an alarming rate.

Located on the first and second floors of the old NSW Bank Chambers, the studios were opened in 1987 during a period of gentrification and “urban renewal” of the CBD, which left many art collectives homeless.

Since then it has gone from strength-to-strength and has been an incubator for hundreds of visual artists including Jo Darbyshire, Richard Gunning, Theo Costantino, Nathan Beard and Andrew Nicholls.

A recent artist in residence was Pip Lewi, “a casual voyeur who seeks playful disruptions in the mundane landscape, using portable materials and processes to document everyday ephemera.”

A modern-day flâneur, one of their best collections is an Ode to Transperth, where they document everyday life on public transport.

Featuring bright colours and impressionistic brush strokes, the drab commute to work is transformed into a wispy, dreamlike world where the mundane becomes something rather special.

Blending nostalgia, whimsy and compassion, it’s a tribute to the stoic warriors of public transport. 

Lewi says their passions are public transport, wheelie bin etiquette, Coles little shop, redback spiders, astroturf vs lawn debates, bath spiritualism and ASMR.

One of the most quirky and endearing features of Gotham Studios is its Peek-a-Boo gallery, which was billed as the “smallest gallery in the Southern Hemisphere” when it opened in the late 1980s.

The 3x3sqm gallery is viewable from the pavement outside the Studio, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Originally intended as a playful dig at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, it’s now become a tiny but iconic ode to experimental art.

Occasionally artists at Gotham Studios band together to do group exhibitions and over the years they’ve held Gotham Goes Shopping at PICA in 1990, G-O-T-H-A-M window installation for the Artrage and Northbridge festivals in 2006, and the 25th anniversary Gotham Gets Pickled at Holmes a Court Gallery in the Pickle District in 2021.

Location is a big plus for Gotham Studios – it’s on the fringe of the Perth Cultural Centre and within walking distance of the WA Art Gallery, PICA, State Library, TAFE and the WA Museum, as well as a host of art supply shops and bars (yes, artists like a drinky poo).

If you are interested in an artist space at Gotham Studios or want to exhibit in their Peek-a-Boo gallery, email gotham@gothamstudios.com.au.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK