The exhibition investigates the back slapping spirit of winning within Australian culture, while also revealing its darker complexities off the sporting field. Responding to the occasion of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Winners are Grinners reveals that all that glitters is not gold, or silver, or even bronze! Curated by Hannah Mathews, Winners are Grinners features seven artists from Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand, bringing a diverse range of perspectives and backgrounds to the exhibition. The participating artists work in a variety of mediums and represent a strong cross section of practice by emerging artists today. Visitors to the exhibition can expect to encounter water colour snap shots of employees of the month from Melbourne painter, Fiona McMonagle, miniaturised gulf war dramatisations played out across a mini golf course by Perth artist, Bennett Miller and a contemporary wheel of fortune sculpted from a Goodyear tyre by Melbourne-based, Mark Hilton. Perth’s Marcus Canning explores the mythology of the win through a single channel projection of a glittering Mt Olympus constructed from golden trophies, while New Zealand artist, Wayne Youle, contributes beauty pageant sashes that bestow a different story on his Maori heritage. Sydney painter, David Griggs, creates a new painting installation framed around his recent residency in the Philippines, and the Brisbane based Indigenous artist Tony Albert draws us closer to home with his photographic and video works Our Cathy and I am, you are, we are Australians. Winners are Grinners prompts us to consider that winners are not only those who succeed on the sporting field, but also those who conquer, triumph and gain in the fields of politics, culture, war and religion by way of faith, determination, strategy and deceit.