About Us

Beinart Gallery (Melbourne, Australia) is a curated space for highly skilled figurative artists with a shared fascination for surreal and imaginative themes. By showing internationally established artists with emerging talent, we are ushering the New Contemporary art movement into Australia. We are passionate about raising the profiles of Australian artists to an international stage through our worldwide network of collectors and enthusiasts.

The Beinart Gallery team. Photo credit: Damian Stephens at DDT

Beinart Gallery is owned and directed by Jon Beinart. The gallery was established in 2016, but our role within this growing international movement spans almost two decades, during which our efforts were focused on publishing, curation, promotion and education.

Over the years we have hosted solo exhibitions for numerous celebrated international artists at our gallery. We have brought to Australia the illusionistic porcelain sculptures of Johnson Tsang, the provocative ceramic art of Ronit Baranga, the fantastic border creatures of Adrian Cox, the dizzying op art of Alex Garant and the pop-surrealist miniatures of Naoto Hattori. We have hosted solo shows for internationally renowned Australian artists such as Shaun Tan while helping to expand the profiles of talented emerging artists such as Beau White and Mark Seabrook.

Beinart Collective – History

Over the years we have published books, curated group exhibitions and maintained a strong online presence under the Beinart banner. Our projects have helped generate opportunities for our artists to network, collaborate, share resources and connect with a broader audience.  We aim to foster a sense of community in which these artists will flourish. We delight in sharing their work and hope that by viewing the journeys of these artists, those who light upon them will be inspired.

The Beinart Collective was founded in 2003 by Jon Beinart. Starting as an online gallery featuring Jon and a handful of other Australian artists, the Collective quickly grew into a network of hundreds of artists from every point of the globe. By 2006, the Collective had become a popular online resource for Contemporary Surrealism, Pop-Surrealism, Fantastic Realism, Dark Art, Lowbrow Art, Magical Realism and other related art movements. At its peak, the site featured more than 600 contemporary artists. The Beinart Collective website also hosted a blog with relevant articles, exhibition previews and artist interviews and an active forum which helped foster a sense of community among the artists.

In 2010, the Collective held its first international group exhibition at the renowned Copro Gallery in Santa Monica. It went on to show hundreds of artists in additional prominent galleries, such as Last Rites Gallery in New York. Exhibiting the work of emerging artists alongside that of established artists in these venues assisted many in the Collective in gaining exposure, attracting new collectors and networking with other artists.

With the support of the artist community which the Collective fostered, Jon was able to open Beinart Gallery, a brick and mortar space in Melbourne, Australia, in 2016. Having a physical space has helped to establish their place within the global New Contemporary art movement and has enabled them to continue their mission within their own hometown.

Beinart Publishing

Beinart Publishing was formed in 2007 with the release of a compendium of the work of fifty surreal figurative artists titled Metamorphosis. The success of this book prompted the release of a second volume, Metamorphosis 2, in 2008. From then until 2012, we focused on the publication of books which chronicled the life and works of celebrated artists such as Kris Kuksi, Laurie Lipton and Chet Zar. These titles often sold out quickly, gaining positive reviews and worldwide distribution.