Australian Centre for Contemporary Art launches immersive show exploring modern loneliness

In Melbourne, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art has opened “Are you lonely tonight? I’m so lonesome I could cry,” a multi-artist exhibition that probes the contemporary loneliness epidemic. Artistic director Myles Russell-Cook and co-curator Sophie Prince commissioned eleven creators, including actor-painter Lucy Liu, LA-based Kayla Mattes, and New Zealand-born Natasha Matila-Smith, to produce works that blend humor, melancholy and social commentary.

Highlights feature a goldfish named Pao Pao, Seth Brown’s “Frank” hot-dog installation, and Mattes’s seven-metre woven tapestry of memes reflecting online isolation. The show also showcases Liu’s Shunga series, illustrating the private-public tension artists face. Russell-Cook describes loneliness as a “kaleidoscope” of emotions, and the exhibition aims to foster connection through shared artistic experience. The program will continue through August 30 before the series moves on to explore rage, with Yoko Ono slated to participate.