Maximum Madness: Art Inspired by Mad Max

4 Dec 2024 - 8 Mar 2025

George Miller’s genre-defining Mad Max film series has grown from a tense, low-budget Ozsploitation cult hit into a sprawling post apocalypse action opera, redefining science fiction along the way.

A complex and compelling mashup of biker, gearhead, Queer and beefcake cultures and their associated aesthetics, Mad Max has become a cosplay favourite, and has become massively influential in cultural terms, being ripped off, satirised and idolised by sources as varied as The Simpsons, Phil Collins, video games and pro wrestling.

With its grab bag aesthetics, subversive politics and lustful, irreverent approach to Australian hoon culture, Mad Max has remained a cultural touchstone, and a highly influential convergence of tropes, images and iconoclasm, ideal inspiration for visual artists.

Bringing together a range of artists paying homage to their favourite post-apocalyptic (anti)hero, it’s time for Maximum Madness.

Featuring Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan, Karike Ashworth, Martin Bell, Penny Byrne, Patrick Connor, Rod Coverdale, Alex Cowley, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, Emma Gardner, Shaun Gladwell, Franck Gohier, David Griggs, Reg Mombassa, Adam Norton, Phoebe Paradise, Brian Robinson, David Sawtell, Ian Smith, Karen Stephens, Brendon Tohill and Paul White.

Curated by Jonathan McBurnie.

Image credit: Frank Grohier, Max Rockatansky, 2023. Black wattle, flattened baked bean tins, sheet aluminium, etch primer, nails, artist acrylic and found objects. Courtesy of the artist. 

Caboolture Regional Art Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

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Maximum Madness: Art Inspired by Mad Max is a Rockhampton Museum of Art touring exhibition curated by Jonathan McBurnie, supported by Rockhampton Regional Council and Haymans Electrical.

When

Location

Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, 4 Hasking Street, Caboolture 4510.  View map

-27.0836596,152.9502886

4 Hasking Street , Caboolture 4510.

Caboolture Regional Art Gallery

4 Hasking Street , Caboolture 4510.

Maximum Madness: Art Inspired by Mad Max