Tolarno may be a successful commercial gallery, but this stimulating contemporary mainstay prides itself on unearthing and nurturing young Australian artists, showing them side-by-side with established talent. A home for contemporary art and design since the mid-20th century, it has inhabited several spaces over the years, but has found a fine home here on the corner of Flinders Lane.
Director Jan Minchin came from the more traditional background at the National Gallery of Victoria, where she was curator of 20th Century Australian Art. At Tolarno she has enjoyed working with rule breakers and subversive thinkers such as Bill Henson and Ben Quilty. The days of Georges and Mirka Mora causing a ruckus with their art, film and performing confederacies remain in the resin, but today the focus is firmly on the gallery's diverse and well-respected stable of artists.