Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9321 8366
http://www.venn.net
Hours:
Mon-Tue 7:00 - 18:00
Wed-Fri 7:00 - 0:00
Sat 9:00 - 0:00
Sun 11:00 - 20:00
The Venn is a little gem semi-hidden from the busy CBD, still in its very heart, that integrates art, food, drink, and shopping in one cool place.
The gallery is elegant, spacious and well curated regarding lighting and display. However, they need a bit of more sophistication, because sticking the wonderful photos on display on the wall by using drawing pins is not very cool, or very artsy, or very impressive. The girl at the desk was welcoming, very cool and really really nice and helpful. The sort of person you want to find in an alternative art gallery. I was really impressed.
The shop is very cool in design - a sort of white theatre that perfectly showcases the colourful items on sale. It is very retro and 1960s, and, in that regard, not very innovative. Still, you'll find very cool thingies you don't need but you madly want to have, like wonderful wrapping papers, colourful synthetic decorative artefacts, wooden toys, odd calendars, and fun jewellery pieces. I hate the Pantone mugs, which are now in every second shop that pretends to be cool; they are the antithesis of creativity and of art, and b-o-r-i-n-g. The shop attendant was lovely, and so very artsy and colourful herself!
The coffee shop is very trendy and modern, still warm and welcoming, and very intimate. A perfect place to have a coffee on your own or with a friend to whisper her all your secrets, or with your dream man separated from your nose by barely a few centimetres. All cool! I was there at an odd time of the day and the food on display wasn't very appealing or much in general, but I will return for breakfast to taste their coffee and food and report back another day.
The roof-top terrace is very cool and cosy, although it was closed when I visited. However, the music was on, and too intrusive for the visitor of the gallery who wants to focus on the works on display and not on music that is not specifically thought for the exhibition. If you want the gallery to have music, great!, then find the music that matches in spirit or concept the works on display. Otherwise, the spell that the viewer gets into while looking at Art is broken. Think about this, guys, when the bar is not open. This item of advice is for free, so take it as a gift, not as criticism. OK? If you want more items of my super-duper advice, you might have to pay for it.
The dudes around were certainly very appealing =).
