A sad, old ghost town

A sad, old ghost town

By Rhonda Dredge

On Victoria St near the market is a cool little lounge/gallery called One Star that has a foot in both the CBD and West Melbourne.

The place is next door to the city’s oldest Balinese restaurant and up the street from a bar filled with books.

One Star caters to those who love art rather than like it, because it knows how to hook a passer-by.

Often you have to peer through the window to catch their latest takes on life but it is always worth the effort.

The work always looks like it’s been done by local artists, even though some are on the international circuit as well.

One Star has a vibe that is difficult to reproduce.

On a pedestal in the window is a clunky hunk of metal with a small figure sitting nearby.

The figure has its legs dangling over the edge of the pedestal.

No-one is trying too hard to look arty in this window display.

There’s a casual painting on a stand, a couple of photographs and an abstract in the right-hand bottom corner.

Group Show is the unpretentious name plastered across the glass.

There are no obvious statements.

The light at the end of the verandah seems to say it all.

One Star is a setting for outlaws. 

The figure on the pedestal next to the metal column is called Monumental Failure.

It’s by Brendan Noonan.

In the art world puns are acceptable, even sought after.

The work seems to depict the stuff up we’re all now experiencing. Perhaps Noonan has a formula.

The ghostly painting isn’t bad either.

It’s great just to walk by and not know anything about the place. 

One Star is a mystery now that it’s closed like a book, waiting to be re-opened, like everything else in this sad, old ghost town.

Group Show, One Star Lounge & Gallery, until … •

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