Western Australia is blessed with one of the country’s most vibrant art scenes. Of course there is Sculpture by the Sea and Perth Festival, but beyond the fleeting glory of festivals and outdoor exhibitions, galleries throughout Perth host a slew of seriously impressive art exhibitions from both local and international artists.

Here – in chronological order – are the best art exhibitions to see in Perth this year.

Iota24: Indian Ocean Craft Triennial

Texture, colour and form come first at Fremantle Arts Centre’s Indian Ocean Craft Triennial. It brings together 10 artists from six countries bordering the Indian Ocean and focuses on the diverse cultural avenues of craft. The exhibition touches on themes of community cohesion, environmental sustainability and socio-economic progress.
Iota24: Indian Ocean Craft Triennial runs until the October 27, 2024 at the Fremantle Arts Centre.

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Low Stakes: Chair Design by Australian Creatives

Sixteen Australian creatives were invited to respond to one prompt: make an object that can be sat on. Although that might seem simple, Low Stakes at Goolugatup Gallery goes beyond fulfilling the brief. Throughout history chairs have been considered utilitarian, decorative and even divisive. They have been made for gaming, for coronations, for the home and even executions. This exhibition demonstrates that there’s no such thing as a run-of-the-mill chair.
Low Stakes runs from October 5, 2024 to November 17, 2024 at Gollugatup Gallery, Applecross.

Body Mould

Take a moment to visualise a mascot for stress, burnout and strain. Then make it ridiculously cute, plush and metal. That’s exactly what multimedia artist Tim Meakins does in his solo-exhibition Body Mould at Sweet Pea Gallery. Small-scale sculptural figures are frozen in moments of collapse and deflation prompting the audience to ask how far the body can be pushed.
Body Mould runs from October 12, 2024 to November 23, 2024 at Sweet Pea Gallery, Perth.

Material Practice: Howard Taylor’s Journal

Artist Howard Taylor was revered for his refined, modernist West Australian landscapes. Material Practice presents artworks from the collection alongside drawings from the artist’s journal, offering viewers a window into Taylor’s creative process. Taylor died in 2001 and the exhibition honours his life, his practice and his contribution to the local arts scene.
Material Practice: Howard Taylor’s Journal runs until December 1, 2024 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

L’ombre de ton ombre

What can chatbots reveal about our own consciousness and desires? Sydney-born artist Paul Knight has been examining this question since he began researching machine learning in 2018. This multimedia exhibition explores intimacy, delving into the artist’s relationship with his partner with a photographic series and a chatbot that has been fed an archive of their text messages. L’ombre de ton ombre, which translates from French to “the shadow of your shadow”, is Knight’s first solo exhibition in Western Australia.
L'ombre de ton ombre runs October 26 to January 19, 2025 at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Time by Rone

Melbourne street artist Rone has gained recognition and critical acclaim for his large-scale murals and instalments in abandoned spaces. His latest show, Time, sold out its Melbourne run and is sure to be similarly popular in Perth. Time brings a sombre collection of hauntingly vintage spaces and captivating wall murals to the forefront. Blending scale and media, the exhibition is a unique effort to peer back at times past and shroud yourself in eerie nostalgia.
Time runs until February 2025 at Centenary Galleries, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Tickets are available online.

Additional reporting by Kai Page and Lucy Bell Bird.

This article was originally published on May 28, 2024 but was updated on October 21, 2024 to include new exhibitions and remove exhibitions that have since concluded.