Partying with priceless art: why galleries are loosening up at night

Art venues gamble on engagement and invite patrons to dance with skulls and dine with Dutch masters It’s 9pm on a Saturday, and the gallery attendant watching over Ron Mueck’s Mass is looking slightly panicked. Swarms of people are pouring into the small room and elbows are going everywhere.Mass – the Australian sculptor’s largest work to date – is the stunning centrepiece of the National Gallery of Victoria’s inaugural art and design Triennial, at which 100 o