Announcing a new interactive art exhibition: Carla O"Brien"s Neon Night Garden at QV Melbourne

Neon Night Garden, an interactive outdoor exhibit.

QV Melbourne have partnered with Melbourne-based international artist Carla O"Brien (White Night, Burning Man, Earthcore) to deliver an alluring new exhibition called Neon Night Garden, featuring nine colourful artworks in Carla"s most extensive exhibit yet.

Carla"s signature Neon Angel Wings will be re-imagined as the colourful wings of a giant butterfly, coming together with eight other touchable works to create an effervescent garden of colour, light and photogenic delights. The unofficial entrance to the garden is a 2.4-metre high Neon Night Garden Archway. Consisting of a series of whimsical neon lines that look as if they were playfully hand drawn, the archway acts as a gateway into the imagination. Viewers are invited to stand inside the archway for an immersive 3D multi-colour experience.

"Inside the Neon Night Garden are all things you might find in a garden - a flying kite, a tree, umbrellas on a rainy day, people, wings of a butterfly and even a flamingo," says Carla.

Carla O"Brien received global recognition when pop megastar Katy Perry posted an Instagram photo of herself "wearing" Carla"s Neon Angel Wings at Burning Man 2016. The snap went viral and was picked up by news outlets around the world. The QV Melbourne precinct is making plans to accommodate high levels of foot traffic when the exhibit launches on 17 May.

"It"s amazing to see how fascinated people are by neon art. Maybe because neon is traditionally used for signage, it"s not something we"re used to touching. I make art for people to interact with - that"s what brings it to life. To me, my pieces only become real art once people get involved with them," says Carla.

"I can"t wait to see people interact with all these new works. I"m particularly excited to see how people relate to The Neon Tree. I"m betting people will sit under it, even though it doesn"t have any shade. The Neon Brollies are real clear plastic umbrellas so when it rains people can actually stand under them. The Mirror Me, Mirror You people are made up of tiny mosaic mirrors so you can see yourself reflected - it won"t be easy to take the perfect selfie but I"m sure people will try!"

Melbourne art lovers are invited to experience the Neon Night Garden at QV Melbourne from 10am on 17 May. The installation will be housed in QV Square, with a special additional installation in Albert Coates Lane on 17 May, to mark the launch of the Neon Night Garden.

The Neon Night Garden is a free public outdoor exhibit running for one month in QV Square until 17 June.

Worlds apart from other retail precincts in Melbourne, QV represents the quintessential Melbourne lifestyle. Intimate laneways in the urban precinct give visitors the freedom to wander and discover the eclectic mix of shops, cafes and restaurants at their own pace. Located on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, QV has something for everyone with boutiques, enlightening entertainment and cosmopolitan bars and restaurants.

Carla O"Brien Biography

Carla O"Brien"s love for light art began in 2009 when she visited the Burning Man festival in Nevada, USA. Using LED Neon Flex, a revolutionary replacement of traditional Glass Neon, she creates awe-inspiring neon art installations now seen at festivals, events and in peoples" private collections. Earlier this year for White Night Melbourne and Ballarat her highly interactive neon installations NEON ANGEL WINGS and LOVE THIS WAY were social media crowd favourites.

For the previous 16 years O"Brien lived in Los Angeles, CA, USA and founded Mecco, Inc. to launch various creative entrepreneurial endeavours, the most successful being Fortune Tee - t-shirts featuring fortune cookie messages and lucky numbers gift packaged in Chinese take-out boxes. Now based in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia, when not creating neon art, O"Brien is the resident Visual Artist for the "a day on the green" concerts in vineyards across Australia creating an exciting array of art installations for guests to view and interact with.

Carla O"Brien introduces the Neon Night Garden artworks:

Neon Night Garden Archway

The unofficial entrance to the open garden space is a 2.4 metre high ornate archway. The "QV Neon Night Garden" archway is a series of whimsical neon lines made to look as if the neon was hand drawn right on to the frame. Stand inside it for an immersive 3D multi-colour experience.

Neon Angel Wings

My signature art piece will be placed centre stage in QV Square. With a 4-metre wingspan, pop star Katy Perry was seen "wearing" the Wings at the Burning Festival in 2016. The Instagram photo of Perry the "luminary fairy" became a global viral hit around the world, now it"s your turn.

Mirror Me, Mirror You

Taking the perfect mirror selfie wearing your #OOTD (Outfit of the Day) can be a challenge at any time - now challenge yourself even further taking a photo of you and your friends reflected in these neon mirror people made of 1000"s of tiny mosaic mirrors. Tag yourself on Instagram with #QVNeonNightGarden.

Neon Brollies

Dark, dreary days turn bright and shiny with umbrellas outlined in neon. Whether it"s raining or not you will want to stand under them and bask in their glow.

Neon Flamingo

Pink flamingos are one of the most famous lawn ornaments in the world. So what would our Neon Night Garden be without our very own retro neon pink flamingo to brighten up our inner city lawn?

The Neon Tree

With autumn comes leaves falling off trees leaving bare monochromatic limbs, but The Neon Tree"s limbs have a different idea. Stand under a spectacular array of neon multi-coloured tree limbs bright enough to liven up even the greyest of winter"s days.

Neon Kite

Look high into the sky and it has never looked brighter than with the Neon Kite giving the illusion of flying in the wind. You will be blown away!

Neon Laneway

Albert Coates Lane will be transformed into a multi coloured brick road leading to the Neon Night Garden in the QV Square.

Neon Hearts

For the exhibition launch from 10am-10pm on 17 May, visitors will feel the love as they enter QV Melbourne via Albert Coates Lane and Swanston St with six brightly coloured Neon Love Hearts lighting their path. Not just for show, the Neon Hearts are perfect for a loved up snap.

About QV Melbourne

Worlds apart from other retail precincts in Melbourne, QV represents the quintessential Melbourne lifestyle. Intimate laneways in the urban precinct give visitors the freedom to wander and discover the eclectic mix of shops, cafes and restaurants at their own pace. QV is home to 120 retail stores including premium fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands.

Located in the central retail district of Melbourne"s CBD, QV Melbourne comprises an entire city block between Swanston, Lonsdale, Little Lonsdale and Russell Streets. The 24-hour precinct is home to Melbourne CBD"s largest Woolworths and Big W, Dan Murphy"s, Harvey Norman and Domayne, Officeworks and Platinum Fitness First, as well as two office towers, a five level retail shopping centre, two residential towers and basement car park.

QV is the redevelopment of Melbourne's historic Queen Victoria Women's Hospital site. In March 1846 Melbourne's forefathers laid the foundation stone for the Princes Bridge and, as part of the same ceremony, a foundation stone was also laid at the Queen Victoria Women's Hospital (at the time named Melbourne Hospital), making this area of great historical significance. The Queen Victoria Women's Centre, at 210 Lonsdale Street, has remained untouched during the construction of QV, with the precinct working around the historic building to provide a wonderful contrast between old and new. QV's principally open-air, pedestrian-only laneway network provides a rich cultural link to the site's history, with names carefully chosen to embrace the area's heritage. The QV precinct is a block footprint of Robert Hoddle's original plan of Melbourne. www.qv.com.au

About Dexus

Dexus is one of Australia"s leading real estate groups, proudly managing a high quality Australian property portfolio valued at more than $22 billion. As property innovators, we are deeply committed to working with our customers to provide spaces that engage and inspire, as well as delivering quality, sustainable returns for our investors. We invest only in Australia, and directly own $11 billion of office and industrial properties. We manage a further $11.7 billion of office, retail and industrial properties for third party clients. The group"s $4.5 billion development pipeline provides the opportunity to grow both portfolios and enhance future returns. With more than 1.7 million square metres of office workspace across 55 properties, we are Australia"s preferred office partner. Dexus is a Top 50 entity by market capitalisation listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (trading code: DXS) and is supported by 30,000 investors from 20 countries. With more than 30 years of expertise in property investment, development and asset management, we have a proven track record in capital and risk management, providing service excellence to tenants and delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for investors. www.dexus.com