Contemporary artist, Peter Atkins, returns to Tolarno Galleries in Melbourne for a new series of work reflecting on Victorian railway ticket designs. Buying, using and discarding a train ticket was once a daily ritual, associated with memories of journey, transit, and place. The Passengers pays homage to these everyday relics no longer in circulation, and the personal experiences attached to them.

‘I expect that when these works are viewed, people will be provoked into a very personal response, perhaps triggering narratives or memories of journeys undertaken with family and friends between particular destinations’, explains Peter of the feelings he hopes to evoke in The Passengers, ‘perhaps to various sporting events, the Melbourne Show, the daily trip to school or to work, shopping in the city or weekends away with friends.’

Painting a colourful tapestry of a history specific to Melbourne and Victoria, the jewel-toned exhibition references specially-designed tickets for major events between the 1920s-1980s. Included in the series of 36 small-scale works are a ticket printed for the Papal visit in 1988, tickets specifically printed for Scouts and Scoutmasters, for travel to the horse racing tracks, and even one issued for Puffing Billy.

Reflecting on the significance of these, Peter says ‘these tickets are like connectors, connecting us all through time and place, to locations, events, friends and family in and around our beautiful city of Melbourne.’

The Passengers by Peter Atkins
March 23rd – April 27th 
Tolarno Galleries 
104 Exhibition Street
Melbourne, Victoria