All the better to see you with: Fairy tales transformed

All the better to see you with: Fairy tales transformed
23.11.2017 - 04.03.2018

Curator: Samantha Comte

All the better to see you with: Fairy tales transformed, the Ian Potter Museum of Art’s 2017 summer show, traces the genre of the fairy tale, exploring its function in contemporary society.

The exhibition presents contemporary art work alongside a selection of key historical fairy tale books that provide re-interpretations of the classic fairy tales for a 21st-century context, including Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and The Little Mermaid.

Featuring international and Australian artists, All the better to see you with explores artists’ use of the fairy tale to express social concerns and anxieties surrounding issues such as the abuse of power, injustice and exploitation.

Fairy tales can comfort and entertain us; they can divert, educate and help shape our sense of the world; they articulate desires and dilemmas, nurture imagination and encapsulate good and evil. All the better to see you withinvites us to delve into this shadowy world of ancient stories through the eyes of a diverse range of artists and art works.

This major summer exhibition is presented across all three levels of the museum and is accompanied by a catalogue and public and education programs.

Broersen & Lukács, Kate Daw, Peter Ellis, Dina Goldstein, Mirando Haz, Vivienne Shark Le Witt, Amanda Marburg, Tracey Moffatt, Polixeni Papapetrou Patricia Piccinini, Paula Rego, Lotte Reiniger, Allison Schulnik, Sally Smart, Kiki Smith, Kylie Stillman, Tale of Tales, Janaina Tschäpe, Miwa Yanagi, Kara Walker and Zilverster (Goodwin & Hanenbergh).

This exhibition has been generously supported by Naomi Milgrom AO and the Consultate General of the United States, Melbourne.