Our Staff

vincent alessi

CEO + Director

Vincent Alessi was appointed CEO + Director of the team at Linden in October 2022. Vincent has held numerous positions within public cultural institutions including as a Director and Senior Curator. He has curated exhibitions both nationally and internationally on artists as diverse as Mike Brown, Philip Hunter, Brook Andrew, Julie Rrap, Polkong Anading and the Ryan Sisters, and on topics varying from abstraction in Australian landscape painting to notions of place and identity in contemporary practice. In 2019 Vincent with colleagues Ry Haskings and Narelle Desmond founded the non-for-profit contemporary art space Conners Conners in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Vincent is committed to providing artists opportunities to present their work, both existing and new, with a focus on risk taking and experimentation. He also believes strongly in the importance of documenting, researching and contributing new knowledge through curatorial programming and academic writing.  

Vincent is also an active art historian. His research interests include the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, mid-late 19th-Century European art, 19th-Century popular graphic illustration and Australian contemporary visual art and curatorial practice. In 2020 he published the book Popular Art and the Avant-Garde: Vincent van Gogh’s Collection of Newspaper and Magazine Prints and is currently researching the influence of Charles Dickens on the work of Van Gogh.  

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Liam james

Deputy Director

lutruwita/Tasmanian born Arts Worker Liam James joined the Linden team in March 2022. Liam completed his Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of Tasmania in 2010, with Honours from the Australian National University in Canberra in 2012. He has worked in a range of arts oriented roles within the creative community, including Director of Sawtooth ARI (2018 - 2021), Co-Director Hobiennale Festival (2016 - 2019), Co-Chair Constance ARI (2016 - 2019). Liam has a driven focus on facilitation, platform creation, community development and models of active participation in cultural production. His facilitation focuses on propelling the voices telling the stories that need to be heard now, practices that break from oppressive traditions, and actions that take risk in thinking and idea sharing.

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SHELLEY XUE

Communications & Design Coordinator

Shelley was a member of Linden’s Industry Placement Program. Joining the team as Gallery Administrator in September 2021, Shelley was further appointed as the Communications & Design Coordinator in March 2022. Formerly worked as the gallery/marketing assistant in Arc One Gallery, Shelley has a multi-faceted experience in the arts, including arts administration, stage and event management, marketing communication, translation, and customer service. She has been an active volunteer across Melbourne’s major art festivals (Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Fringe, Midsumma) and cultural organisations (Melbourne Art Library, Centre For Contemporary Photography, and NotFair Art Fair). Beyond her professional life, Shelley finds passions in creative storytelling. She continues to develop her ongoing photographic project, Unknown Solitariness. Shelley holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Melbourne.

Cultural Backgrounds: Shelley identifies as Chinese. Her mother was born and raised in the southern part of China (Guangdong Province), and her father grew up in the northwest (Xinjiang). Hence, both Cantonese and Mandarin are Shelley’s mother tongue. Shelley came to Naarm/Melbourne in 2018 in pursuit of her Master’s Degree, while her whole family still live in Guangdong, China.

keir Semenov

Education & Public Program Coordinator

Keir joined the Linden team as a Gallery Administrator in April 2022, and was further appointed as the Education & Public Program Coordinator in September 2022. His first engagement with Linden started through the Arts Industry Placement Program in 2019. Keir has extensive experience in marketing, public relations and administration previously working in one of the major art galleries in Moscow. Keir stands for making museums and galleries more accessible and welcoming for people from all cultural backgrounds. He is currently developing multi-lingual tours in Mandarin, Russian and Spanish at Linden and guides exhibition tours in Russian himself. Keir holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Melbourne.

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Karl Halliday

Projects Space Coordinator

Karl was welcomed on board as Projects Space Coordinator in March 2022, bringing to Linden ten years of professional experience working with artists and art organisations across the non-profit sector. An impassioned advocate for the cultural, educational and therapeutic value of the arts, Karl is dedicated to creating opportunities for artists to share their ideas, develop their practices and connect with new audiences. In his independent pursuits, Karl practices as a photographic artist and curator specialising in lens-based media and conceptually-driven forms of artmaking. Since 2020, Karl has served as Chair of the Board of Directors at Blindside. He holds a Masters in Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of History of Art (Hons) from the University of Western Australia.

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