Rubicon ARI

Neil Shurgold, Yasser Nassr and Ann Fuata opened this project space above Queensberry Street in 2012 to give emerging and early-career artists a low-barrier way to show new work. There is no commission on sales and no requirement that artists sit their own shows — the gallery even patches and repaints the walls after bump-out, a small but telling piece of the artist-first model it runs on. The program moves through solo and group exhibitions across a first-floor room, drawing submissions from artists, curators and collectives working in any medium, from painting through to sound and performance. In a city with no shortage of commercial galleries, Rubicon has held its ground as one of the artist-run spaces that still prioritises access over sales. Open Wednesday to Sunday, it rewards the kind of visitor happy to see work mid-career rather than fully resolved — a look at where Melbourne's contemporary art scene is heading next.