Few symbols define the modern era as powerfully—or persistently—as the automobile. Fuelled by the legacy of the film Mad Max, Full Throttle presents the car as a lens through which to examine contemporary life.

The exhibition brings together artists who challenge the myths and meanings built around cars. Sarah Lucas’s dismembered, cigarette-covered Jaguar, Trent Parke’s raw Bathurst series, Margaret Dodd’s playful ceramic Holdens and the Tjanpi Desert Weavers’ giant woven Toyota, among other artworks, confront themes of gender, power, performance and national identity. From post-apocalyptic myth to suburban realism, the car is shown as a connector and divider, saviour, destroyer and muse. This exhibition does not glorify the automobile—it interrogates it.

Full Throttle presents significant new acquisitions, highlights from the national collection and major loans borrowed from public and private collections across Australia and the world.

The exhibition features works of art created in a diverse range of media including sculptures, paintings, installations, works on paper, textiles and video.