Perhaps the most exciting things are those with the greatest potential to fail. Melbourne’s newest gallery Dudspace is tucked away in a corridor formerly used only to access the Kings ARI toilets. The space may be small, but a failure it is not.

Dudspace’s inaugural exhibition ‘Neon Salon’ drew attendance - per square foot - that rivaled, perhaps even surpassed, that of the Louvre. However turnout was not all there was to love for the visiting francophile, as attendees were invited to bask in a Salon hang. And bask they did, the entirely neon show provided more than enough illumination to fill the small space.

Works by Sanja Pahoki, Kiron Robinson, Simon Zoric, Kristin Mciver, and Jose Domingues looked great and were afforded substantial extra intensity as admiring them from a distance was completely out of the question. So it was backs against the wall, neon burning beyond your field of view, and a whole lot of fun.

Dudspace, succeeds as a space and does so with class. Not only does it encourage visitors to interact with the work, but it invites them to undertake an intimate dialogue with each other that can sometimes be vacant from contemporary art spaces.

Directors Lyndal May Stewart and Madé Spencer-Castle bill the space as “Great Art, Shit Space”. Say what you like, what was once a corridor is now a legitimate venue, and Melbourne is better for it.

Neon Salon runs until April 28th at
Dudspace: Lvl 1/171 King St, Melbourne