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Adriana Artmeier's debut solo exhibition, Dad Jokes, weilds dark humour as both shield and weapon, confronting childhood sexual abuse, its aftermath, and the parts of a person that survival can quietly destroy.
Warning: This exhibition explores themes of
childhood trauma and sexual abuse and contains
imagery that some visitors may find distressing
Join our online preview list for early access to the artworks and pre-sales.
Opening reception: Saturday, Jun 27th, 5 – 8 pm. This is a free event. As Beinart Gallery is a licensed venue, any minors attending the opening reception will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.
This exhibition will run from Jun 28th - Jul 19th, 2026 and will coincide with Jesús Aguado's Mad World, Wendy Croxford's Silent Theatre and Alexia Novella's Harlequin.
"If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. And if you cry, you might never stop."
Dark humour is Artmeier’s way of coping. Like so many others, she employs it not to dismiss trauma, but as a psychological shield, a way to shrink monsters down to a manageable size, to downplay the severity of what she has lived through, to make it through the day. With this in mind, Dad Jokes is an unflinching exploration of sexual abuse throughout childhood and adult life. By confronting this difficult subject matter directly, Artmeier seeks to unveil the psychological aftermath of these events and acknowledge the devastating reality that, for a huge percentage of survivors, the threat is not a “stranger in the dark,” but a family member or someone very close to the domestic circle. Dad Jokes addressed this horrific cycle, portraying the lasting effects of sexual assault visually and emotionally.
Born of the need to create art as a way to transmute pain, Artmeier’s work reveals art’s power to transcend the limitations of words, allowing viewers to engage with experiences that are often difficult to articulate. Her aim is not merely to shock or disturb, but to foster a deeper understanding of the emotional scars that linger, because for her the age-old saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” fails to mention the parts of a person that die.
Adriana Artmeier was raised in Germany with Slovenian roots and is now based in Melbourne. Influenced by early days spent drawing with her grandmother, she began with graphite and charcoal before moving into coloured pencils and acrylic painting. Drawn to darker corners of the human experience, Artmeier’s work explores trauma, society, and personal histories through surrealism, shadow, and dark humour.