Nell

WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT
Jon Campbell, Bill Culbert, Nell, Tom Polo, Chunxiao Qu
2 May – 6 June 2026

STATION | MELBOURNE

Bringing together STATION-represented artists Tom Polo and Nell, alongside local and international practitioners, Jon Campbell, Bill Culbert and Chunxiao Qu, White Light/White Heat presents works of white neon and fluorescents.

Borrowing its title from the Velvet Underground’s 1968 album White Light/White Heat, the exhibition similarly hinges on a kind of double meaning. At first encounter, the works register as intense, and the viewer is immediately bathed in a persistent clinical-like light, producing a sense of unease. As the exhibition unfolds, this intensity softens, revealing something more temporary, fragile and contemplative. In a 1969 radio interview, Lou Reed spoke of his interest in metaphysical studies and a Japanese healing practice involving the emission of “white light”, exploring the fundamental nature of reality, existence and being.

Even as the works remain implicated within systems of display and exchange, their familiar glow now becomes estranged, drained of colour and certainty, producing a mood that is both unsettling and seductive. Here, the works occupy a liminal space, suspended between light and dark, birth and death, stagnation and renewal, permanence and temporality.

To register your interest in receiving the catalogue, click here.

Bill Culbert appears courtesy of Fox Jensen McCrory Gallery, Auckland and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Gadigal/Sydney

Chunxiao Qu appears courtesy of FUTURES Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne

Installation Views

Artworks

Jon Campbell
Sunshine 2026
neon, acrylic, MDF
40.0 × 60.0 × 15.0 cm

Chunxiao Qu
NO, BECAUSE I AM 2025
LED neon, transparent acrylic
80.0 × 100.0 cm

Tom Polo
I always knew I'd never forget 2026
neon
156.0 × 112.0 cm

Nell
The Dr. said it was like being hit by lightning 2013
neon
156.0 × 112.0 cm

Jon Campbell
DUNNO 2026
neon, acrylic paint, plywood
25.0 × 51.5 × 8.0 cm

Nell
Lightning Bolt 2013
neon
50.0 × 17.0 cm

Bill Culbert
White Shadow 2001
fluorescent lights, electrical cords, plastic bottles
57.0 × 61.0 × 12.0 cm

Chunxiao Qu
I AM YOU AND YOU ARE ME 2025
LED neon with transparent and mirrored acrylic frames
45.0 × 45.0 cm