Tove Langridge, a luminary in the realm of international art, wears multiple hats as an art dealer, curator, and accomplished painter. As the visionary owner of TW Fine Art Gallery, Tove has established himself as a driving force in the art world, seamlessly blending his passion for curation and artistic creation. We chatted to Tove about his amazing international career and his new Pop Up Gallery at The Oasis.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
I love how the city meets the sea. I can wake up, go for a swim with my dog before work and then again when I come home. It’s literally one of the most beautiful places to live on earth and I know my dog Otto agrees!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I love the outdoors, but I’m also pretty left-brained. I’m inspired by ideas, art and culture and when I was younger the left side of my brain won out, leading me to New York City where I studied painting and art history.

I lived and worked in the city for almost 15 years but as I grew older my perspectives shifted. I missed my family and my friends from home, and I craved a more balanced life where I could enjoy the outdoors and nature for more than a few months of the year. That led me back home to Australia.

Can you share a bit about your journey into the art world and what inspired you to become an art dealer and curator?
My grandfather was an architect and my mum always made jewellery & ceramics. I was always around creativity in various forms and loved making things myself. It just didn’t seem like an option as a career when I grew up so I went and did a business degree.

However, after working in Sydney for many years and already in my 20s, I just thought why not apply to art schools in New York. I got into my top pick – SVA which had alumni like Keith Harring, and the rest is history.

After I graduated, I landed a position working for Lynda Benglis and then Abstract Expressionist Michael Goldberg, then ultimately his estate after he passed away. I had access to such incredible works of art, galleries and artists. I was so fortunate to be working within the legacy of New York modernism. I never looked back.

What factors do you consider in selecting and presenting artworks?
I love ideas. Artworks that can articulate how we think and feel within the visual language are genius. We forget that paintings employ a language that isn’t word-based, and just like any language you pick it up over time.

Once you start to understand it, a whole world of intuitive meaning opens up. Part of my job is encouraging people to engage with the visual language, to demystify it or rather remove it from the context of advertising to which it is so intertwined.

It’s the oldest language in human history, it was designed to communicate in a way that words cannot. Like music, it has no literal meaning and it’s universal.

Does your work as a painter influence your curatorial decisions?
I would say yes. Because I make paintings myself, I can see the inner workings of the painting. It’s a very difficult thing to make a great painting. Robert Nava once said it’s like describing a sprinter running a perfect race.

As a non-athlete, I see the brilliance, the thrill of the performance. Another sprinter would also see that brilliance but they are also able to break down all the technical reasons as to how the sprinter executed the race. A great painting makes us compelled to admire it, but often it’s difficult to describe explicitly why we love it.

Are there particular exhibitions at TW Fine Art that you found especially fulfilling or that had a significant impact?
Absolutely. One of my favourite shows was called ‘Learn, Unlearn, Repeat’ in 2018. It brought together artists from Europe, Australia and America (a few are some of the biggest most collectible contemporary artists in the world).

The premise of the show was to always be open to learning new things and ideas, and just when you think you you know a great deal, dissect that knowledge and relearn it with fresh intent. Each artist in that show is forever changing, unafraid of experimentation and failure in pursuit of that undefined goal within their work.

Tell us a bit about your Oasis Pop-Up gallery.
We are here for 3 months on level 1. Over the three months, we will host three different exhibitions. First up and on view now is Australian painter Odessa Mahony-de Vries who creates wonderful large-scale abstractions. Second up is one of my good friends Chris Trueman from Los Angeles, and finally a British painter who also loves Los Angeles – Max Presneill.

We also have many works by other artists from our stockroom as well as access to our online catalogue of limited-edition prints. The prints can be ordered in any size in the gallery, they are then printed, framed and delivered direct to your home from our print shop. Our hours are 10:00 – 4:00pm Tuesday – Saturday.

Can you give us some tips on how to pick art for our home?
Scale up, a big piece always makes a statement. I’m a big fan of everything in your home having a story & that story is told through the threads of how you relate to the pieces in your home and why you purchased them. Spend some time around paintings, you may gravitate to minimal pieces, or bold gestural abstracts or a combination of styles.

Art is about feeling and personality, sometimes (like people) paintings grow on you, your first reaction may not be accurate. Come in to see me at the gallery and I’ll introduce you to some fantastic artworks and you can go from there!

What are your Gold Coast favourites:
Café: The Milkman’s Daughter
Restaurant: Omeros Bros
Bar: Sunset Bar and Grill
Beach: Mermaid Beach (it’s my local)

How do you choose to spend your days off?
Generally with friends and family, but if it’s a nice day, you’ll generally find me on the beach with the doggo.

Isabella Nunnink is a lifelong Gold Coast local with an impressive creative journey that’s as dynamic as it is inspiring. From drawing fairy houses in her back garden to earning a Grade 7 AMEB classical singing certificate, Isabella’s passion for the arts has been a constant throughout her life. After high school, she shifted gears from classical singing to visual arts, and today she’s a TAFE Queensland graphic design student whose work, ‘Dylan’s World,’ is a standout at this year’s Big City Lights* Festival. Her artwork, a tribute to a dear friend, is being projected onto a building, adding a splash of colour and emotion to the Gold Coast’s vibrant art scene. We chatted with the multi-talented Isabella to find out what drives her.

This weekend is your last opportunity to catch Big City Lights* in 2024. Find out more here.

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
I was born in the Benowa Hospital on the Gold Coast so I’ve been a local my whole life and feel so grateful I get to call this place my home.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
The thing I love most about the Gold Coast is how central everything is, I can drive to the beach or the bush within an hour of each other. I also love the up and coming arts and music scene, seeing it blossom as I’ve slowly become a part of it has been amazing and the potential opportunities are endless.

Tell us a bit about yourself
Growing up I was always passionate about being creative, you would find me either drawing pictures, writing stories, making fairy houses in the back garden or singing my heart out. I started singing lessons at the age of 7 and continued into my late teen years training in Classical singing to come out with my Grade 7 AMEB classical certificate. Singing will always be my first love, but on the side I was honing my skills in painting.

The trouble with being a creative is that I pursue too many endeavors at once and am a little bit indecisive, haha. Throughout High School I entered and exhibited in art competitions including the Doyle Art awards and the Creative Generation Excellence Awards, but once I graduated I chose to go down a different path and study music production and my Bachelor of Contemporary Music at Southern Cross University. When COVID hit, I lost the drive to complete my musical studies and decided to turn my focus back on art. I went and completed my Cert III in Visual arts but still felt lost with which direction I wanted to take, after another year of contemplation I decided to focus my attention on Graphic Design so I completed my Cert III in Design Fundamentals and am currently half way through my Diploma of Graphic Design.

Music still stayed in the back of my mind though so throughout the last year I picked up DJing as well which has always been a dream of mine, and as of this weekend I will be playing my first Bush doof festival as a Drum and Bass DJ under the name Grizzabella.

What’s been your journey to becoming an artist? 
My journey to becoming an artist started when I was little, I guess I am of the belief that we are all artists in our own right. It’s what we choose to do with our creativity that counts. Throughout high school at Hillcrest Christian College is when I really started to hone in on my skills, studying fine art and completing a short intensive course that taught me how to paint oil portraiture.

After graduating I started a business called Little Miss Trippy selling psychedelic artwork as well as handmade jewellery and herbal blends. When this came to an end I kept practicing my painting skills every few months before starting the Visual Arts Certificate. After this I went on to do the Design Fundamentals Cert and now the Diploma of Graphic Design, which leads me to this point in my artistic career.

How would you describe your work?
I would describe my work as an exploration of my human experience. I love using psychedelic patterns in my art, but originally I worked on expressing my emotions and the human condition through self portraits and portraits of other people, mostly wanting to portray pain. My artistic journey is deeply influenced by the vivid and intricate realms of psychedelic and visionary art, the bold lines and forms of tattoo art, and the precision and depth of traditional realism.

Your artwork ‘Dylan’s World,’ is one of the highlights of this year’s Big City Lights* festival. Tell us a bit about the artwork.
‘Dylan’s World’ holds deep personal significance to me and his loved ones, I painted this tribute of my close friend who tragically passed away last year as a result of a violent crime. I wanted to portray his beautiful, colourful and charismatic personality to remind us all of the light he was in all of our lives. I painted it using black oil paint for the portrait and acrylic guache for the colourful background.

How did your artwork come to be included in Big City Lights*?
My artwork came to be in Big City Lights* through TAFE Queensland at the Coomera Campus, My Graphic Design teacher brought it to our attention that the festival was looking for students to submit their art for the chance to be selected in the festival. I decided to submit ‘Dylan’s World’ as I wanted to share him with the world and also knew he would have loved to see himself exhibited at an arts festival.

What are your Gold Coast favourites…
Café/coffee spot: Millers Espresso, Mudgeeraba
Restaurant: Cooly Breeze, Coolangatta
Bar or place for a drink: Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, Burleigh
Beach: Burleigh Heads

How do you choose to spend your days off?
I choose to spend my days off in the gym, practicing my DJ sets and spending time with friends, as well as cooking yummy meals and seeing where the day takes me.

Is it ever too late for a cup of the good stuff? The haters will say yes, but the loyal bean lovers will argue otherwise and frankly – we agree!

For those who love themselves a coffee (isn’t that all of us?), getting yourself a cup of steamy — or icy — inspiration after 3pm is tough. We’re aware most cafes close around 1pm, or at a push 2pm. And that’s all perfectly well and fine. However, if your cravings for caffeine don’t have any sense of time, this situation undoubtedly causes you some unnecessary upset.

You want to organise an afternoon meeting but everywhere is closed? We hear you. Put down the Google search because we’ve done the heavy lifting and found the Gold Coast’s best spots serving up the good stuff after 3pm. These cafes recognise that coffee never sleeps and continue to serve it well into the afternoon, and in some cases, the evenings. So when those mid-afternoon caffeine withdrawals start to kick in, fear not, we got you.

Tarte Beach House
You know, weekdays aren’t the only time you need a late arvo coffee moment – and Tarte Beach House understood the assignment. Your nights get later come Friday to Sunday so it just makes sense that they’re on the tools until 5pm – the perfect time for your last brew before you start taking your coffee in espresso martini form.
Where: Shop 1 2/4 Thrower Drive, Currumbin

Nook Espresso
The ultimate little coffee nook for your afternoon pick me up, Nook have been brewing the goods for as long as we can remember and lucky for us – they do it until 4.30pm every week day. Bonus points that it’s in primo location for the parents among us desperate for some coffee goodness post school pick up.
Where: Stocklands Burleigh, 149 W Burleigh Rd, Burleigh Heads

Buoy
Oh Buoy, have we been waiting for a spot in Nobby’s to fill the afternoon coffee shaped hole in our heart. With coffee on tap until 5pm – conveniently coinciding with the end of your work day – pop in for a cuppa and pick up those last minute groceries for dinner (that you definitely didn’t forget) at The Oxley Village Grocer.
Where: The Oxley, 17 Lavarack Road, Mermaid Beach

Black Dingo Café
Southern Gold Coasters have we found a treat for you, one of the newest cafes on our foodie scene, Black Dingo is already loved by locals for pouring up cups of liquid gold until 3pm every day. Serving up The Cats Pyjamas Coffee AND the most epic ocean views, we don’t need to convince you why to check this one out.
Where: 1 Tweed Terrace, Coolangatta

Madison’s Café
Our knight in shining coffee (and treaties), this Broadbeach institution is known for satisfying your coffee craving all. day. long. Fear not because their coffee machine is on until 6pm and bonus points for the fact that you can finish with a cookie croissant – if there’s any left, that is!
Where: Oasis Shopping Centre, 75 Surf Parade, Broadbeach

Rose Gelateria
Should you find yourself in Sanctuary Cove after a mini shopping spree, a game of golf, parking up your superyacht (same) or decadent dinner at one of The Marine Village’s iconic restaurants, this gelateria is serving up delicious gelato right up until late (9pm in fact). The same is said for their perfectly made coffee, which you can have poured over gelato. Just saying…
Where: Shop 39a Masthead Way, Sanctuary Cove

Fixx Café and Lounge
Fixx my name, coffee fix by nature, one of our favourite spots inside QT Gold Coast just gets that once the clock strikes twelve we’re still looking for the good stuff aka coffee. Pop in for the crowd favourite high tea or if you’re on the run, takeaways are on the table until 4pm.
Where: QT Gold Coast, 7 Staghorn Avenue, Surfers Paradise

Ottimo
With owner Davide holding a Diploma of Gelato making from the Gelato University of Carpigiani in Italy (no joke), you’d be right to have a sneaking suspicion the gelato here is likely out of this world. And in truth: it is! Mix it with all-day (until 9.30pm-10pm every night) served coffee utilising beans roasted in Italy, and you have a slice of Europe in Coolangatta. Bellissimo!
Where: 18/52 Marine Parade, Coolangatta

South Coast Coffee Co.
Being one of the Gold Coast’s best roasters and dispensaries of magnificent coffee is not enough for these guys, oh no. They also have an adjoining café space with out-of-this-world sweet treats and coffee flowing till 5pm during the week (4pm Sundays) – we’ll cheers to that.
Where: Shop 3G10, Capri Via Roma, Surfers Paradise

Merlo Torrefazione (Brickworks)
If coffee is a happy part of your life (and if it isn’t, are you okay?) then you’ll want to pay a visit to these guys in Southport for you CBD folks. With pretty much every known piece of coffee apparatus under one roof, you can’t go wrong. They also roast on-site and serve coffee right up till 6pm most days, so you know it’s good.
Where: Brickworks Ferry Road, 107 Ferry Rd, Southport

The Kiosk Burleigh
All that walking (or running if that’s what tickles your fancy) is thirsty work so before you hit the pavement, we’re guessing you’re going to need a cheeky caffeine hit. Enter: The Kiosk Burleigh, answering our coffee prayers all the way up until 7pm – never too late for a latte if you ask us.
Where: 43 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads

Riverland Kitchen
This creekside all-rounder brings brekkie bites and gourmet burgers to the banks of Terranora Creek and serves coffee until 4pm Tuesday to Saturday.
Where: 45 Kennedy Dr, Tweed Heads

Words by Jacqueline Bojanowski