Chris May

MetroScape

April 10 – May 2, 2026

  Cities worldwide never tire of structural change as they aspire to become monuments to human progress. Melbourne is no exception—its skyline dominated by contemporary architecture and expanding infrastructure. Yet, with this transformation comes disruption, a paradoxical space where creation and destruction coexist, leaving a trail of upheaval in its wake — The price of change. MetroScape reflects this paradox as seen through a series of works which grapple with the relationship between construction, infrastructure and the city environment. Within these transitional sites of construction, Chris May explores the ‘unfinished’—spaces that, for him, reveal far more than the completed structure. Exposing the unseen, the ephemeral, and the shifting nature of urban change. His works are multi layered, revealing areas of site construction and road infrastructure punctuated by industrial fluro colours that dominate the inner-city landscape. Machinery, steel, timber and heavy-duty materials are also combined—expressing the underlying layers of a city in a constant state of organise chaos. These are urban areas of a different kind, MetroScapes, far removed from the romantic notions of the pastoral and the sublime. This project deepened through his research into early 20th-century modernist thinking, particularly in the 1930s during the establishment of the Bauhaus School (1919-1933). Between two world wars, It was a period when creative experimentation blurred the boundaries between photography and architecture, redefining spatial expression. This period of global transformation draws intriguing parallels with now, where amidst today’s economic and political uncertainties, the world grapples with a crisis-laden landscape, endeavoring to forge a new future shaped by the trans-formative forces of architecture, design and construction. Ultimately, these abstract works seek to reconsider our perception of the city, by challenging the architectural gaze—reminding us that it is not only what we see, but how we see, the metropolis we inhabit. Chris May 2025.