Unplugged: Portrait of an Artist - Adalita

Throughout winter the NGV will host a series of music and conversations set amongst the classics of the 19th and 20th Century Australian art galleries. See some of the most iconic works by Australian artists – from Rupert Bunny to John Brack – in a different light as we explore shared themes between art and music and enjoy a short set of live and intimate performances in the gallery spaces.

Curated by Jae Laffer of The Panics, Unplugged Live: Portrait of an Artist will showcase ten of the country’s best emerging and established musicians and bands over ten weeks. On Sunday afternoons, Laffer and NGV curators will discuss themes and ideas in iconic Australian works, followed by a live and acoustic performance of a handful of songs by the musicians.

On the line-up this week is Adalita. She released her most recent album, All Day Venus, in September 2013. Produced by long-time Magic Dirt collaborator Lindsay Gravina, it is an album that rewards intensive listening. “It’s like a movie or book with many chapters,” Adalita explains about the carefully considered flow of songs. “On the last record there was a lot of quietude and serenity. This one is cathartic in a different way. It is heavy in places, but I definitely wanted it to be upbeat and danceable too.”

The release of Adalita’s eponymous debut album in 2011 marked the advent of a remarkable new phase in an already illustrious career. Initially conceived as a humble solo project, laboured over in isolation, the resulting album not only thrilled fans of the artist’s former band Magic Dirt, but also introduced her to a younger audience who weren’t necessarily aware of the enormous body of work she had accumulated since the early 1990s.

Also on the line-up in the coming weeks: Bob Evans (Sun 6 Jul), New Gods (Sun 13 Jul), MT WARNING (Sun 20 Jul), Melody Pool (Sun 27 Jul), Adalita (Sun 3 Aug), Georgia Fair (Sun 10 Aug), Glenn Richards (Sun 17 Aug), Jae Laffer (Sun 24 Aug), Paul Dempsey (Sun 31 Aug) and Missy Higgins (Sun 7 Sep).