Full Throttle

An adrenaline-fuelled ride via one of the most potent and persistent symbols of the modern era the automobile.

Few symbols define the modern era as powerfully or persistently as the automobile. Full Throttle, fuelled by the legacy of the film Mad Max, presents the car as a lens through which to examine contemporary life. The publication examines how artists across mediums and generations have used the automobile as both subject and metaphor to explore ideas around power, identity, consumption and connection.

Richly reproduced plates within a luxe and striking design, inspired by the collision of visual art and car culture, illuminate the breadth and ambition of key works from the landmark eponymous exhibition, including by Trent Parke, Judy Chicago, Sarah Lucas, Kaylene Whiskey, Ichwan Noor, Tjanpi Desert Weavers and Tracey Moffatt.

Anchored by an introduction from the exhibition curator Dr Nick Mitzevich, National Gallery Director, and featuring an in-depth conversation with Mad Max director George Miller, the publication brings together a suite of essays that unpack the exhibition's major thematic arcs. From post-apocalyptic myth to suburban realism, the car is shown as a connector and divider, saviour, destroyer and muse. This publication does not glorify the automobile it interrogates it.

Full Throttle uses the car as a cultural side-mirror reflecting the structures, desires and dilemmas that shape contemporary life. It positions the car not simply as an object, but as a powerful symbol through which to understand and critique Australia's past, present and imagined futures.