Queens of the Pub by Gerard O'Connor and Marc Wasiak

Queens of the Pub is an explosive new exhibition of photographic images and costumes by Gerard O'Connor and Marc Wasiak. The project honours the queen of the pub, diversity and recycling, with a cast of people of diverse ages, backgrounds, gender, and sexual orientation.

© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Screaming Queen.
© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Screaming Queen.

Throughout this photographic series, O'Connor and Wasiak have honoured the unsung heroes who are the resilient Queens and real people of St Kilda. The Queens of the Pub are the survivors and have created the places we love today. St Kilda was once the playground for the rich, then fell into being an unfashionable place in the late 1950s. Migrants, the LGBTQI community, musicians, and artists have helped to revive St Kilda and made it an attractive place to live, play, and work today.

© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Queen George.
© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Queen George.
Closet Queens. © Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak.
© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Closet Queens.
© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Queens Coronation
© Gerard O'Connor & Marc Wasiak. Queen's Coronation

Gerard O'Connor and Marc Wasiak are an award winning artist duo who have worked together for over 20 years and have exhibited widely in Australia and internationally. In 2016, they exhibited in XIX Encuentros Abiertos, Festival de la Luz, Argentina, one of the largest photographic festivals in the world. In 2013, they exhibited at the Pingyao International Photography Festival –  China’s largest and longest-running art-photo event, and won the Jin Hou Niao Zun award for best international work. Their works are in the collection of Ministerio de Cultura in Argentina, the The Australian Embassy in Argentina and Government House, Canberra.

 

cph-newsletter
Get more stories like this delivered
free to your inbox. Sign up here.

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

July

Perth: From 31 May – 28 Sept 2025. Featuring 85 works from three major series – Deep Springs, Overpass, and Cross Country – the exhibition spans twelve years of Contis’s evolving photographic practice.

Adelaide: 7 June – 16 August. Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, this photographic exhibition captures the experience of lives lived through dance.

Sydney: Until 31 Dec 2025. PIX, Australia’s first pictorial news weekly, is brought to life in this exhibition, showcasing its archived images and stories for the very first time.

Melbourne: 7 June – 31 August. Protest is a Creative Act seeks to address issues around the body, sexuality, race, national identity and the environment.

Sydney: 15 May – 19 October. Showcasing 100 incredible images, this remarkable exhibition offers a window into the astonishing variety of life on our planet – and the critical importance of preserving it.

Melbourne: June 5 - 16 August 2025. The explore the history of Alan Adler's photobooths and their cultural significance, alongside visual stories told by the community.

Brisbane: 19 July – 17 August. Presenting the results of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, the annual exhibition showcases the best and most important photojournalism and documentary photography of the last year.

Sydney: Until 22 August 2025. Sandy Edwards was instrumental in the feminist photography movement, using her documentary style to challenge traditional narratives, highlight issues of gender and identity, and question societal norms.

August

Leica Store Gallery in both Sydney & Melbourne present a unique photographic dialogue between Steve McCurry and Jessie Brinkman Evans. Until late October.

Canberra: 14 August – 13 September 2025. The Texans 1972-73 –features documentary style images from that era. The Camera Unrepair Shop – combines installation, cyanotype process and performance to reflect on the nature of photography.