The owner of a new gallery in Canberra is opening a space he wished he had growing up in the region.

Artist Oli Golding is the head of operations at Canberra Art Gallery in Fyshwick.

It will be the first time Mr Golding will run a gallery.

“It’s a huge, huge task. It’s been super rewarding, especially as an artist,” Mr Golding said.

“I’ve always found such fulfilment in the creative industry, whether it’s within entertainment, music or art, I’ve kind of bounced around all of them.”

Mr Golding moved to Melbourne in 2018, returning to the ACT about a year ago.

His goal was to open something in his hometown that he would have loved to have had growing up.

“(And) even sitting down with different artists who are incredibly talented Canberra locals, who they always say, ‘this is special, I wish I had this when I was younger’. So that’s really special for me,” Mr Golding said.

While there are more than 30 galleries across Canberra, Mr Golding said his was different.

“Everything’s for sale. That’s a major point of difference for us, I have always found growing up, all the galleries that I went to (in Canberra),” he said.

“I also lived in Melbourne and spent a lot of time overseas — it was such a monumental part of my life for seeing artworks in these amazing institutions.

“But the question was never really even asked: ‘Can I have that on my wall?’”

He said by opening a commercial gallery, it showed everyone that it was “possible to own a Picasso”.

Another aspect was to inject fine art into Canberra, so people didn’t have to go elsewhere to purchase a masterpiece.

“They’ll go to Sydney, they’ll go to Melbourne, and they’ll spend that weekend of ‘Let’s go out to the art district, we might see something that we like, let’s make a day of it’,” Mr Golding said.

Mr Golding has had a lifelong passion for art.

“My background as a creative in Canberra was every single night I would go out and I was absolutely obsessed with graffiti,” he said.

“Every single day, going to school seeing iRun and stuff like that was super inspiring to me.

“I think it was seeing artists, like Abyss (Abyss607), where they really were elevating Canberra.

“I got really into all kinds of art, then I moved down to Melbourne to pursue art and somehow along the line I ended up in the music industry.”

His start in the music industry was creating album covers for $50 each.

“It was really exciting, I got to see very quickly how art connected me to other people. I find it’s really special that I was able to have that experience,” Mr Golding said.

“Getting to do the album cover for Murray the Red wiggle (Murray Cook), that’s pretty cool.”

He was also involved in the CD for the 2023 Barbie movie.

Mr Golding also worked in merchandise within the music industry, including CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes and vinyls.

He has now shifted his focus back onto his own art.

The gallery at 100 Barrier Street in Fyshwick will officially open on 30 May with an opening event from 6:30-9pm.

The space is being promoted as Canberra’s connection to the world of contemporary art “made for collectors, made for you”.

The event is being touted as “more than an opening”: “It’s a celebration of Canberra’s place in the world of contemporary art. A gallery built for this city, for its people, and for those who shape its culture”.

To learn more about the Canberra Art Gallery, visit cag.art

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