The Ken Done Gallery — Attraction in Sydney

Appalling treatment of Customers. Zero stars if I could. I brought my two Sons into the gallery on a highly anticipated trip to Sydney to purchase art for our new home in Malvern Melbourne. Ken Done was one of my must visit galleries. Upon entry, I set up both my sons away in a corner w their iPads so as to not intrude nor disturb anyone in the gallery. They are most well behaved boys & did not once get up, touch anything, or disturb anyone. Service was non existent even thought there were 2 staff there, & no one else in the gallery apart from 1 other lady. I was quick as you do when shopping with children. We left quietly & I thanked the staff even though no service was offered. Upon exit & while we were already OUTSIDE the gallery - please note this point readers - we had already left the gallery - we were no longer inside. We were in a public space, on the stairs of which we were planning our next move & I was sending pictures of what I liked to my husband. My sons were not being super loud, just boys talking happily to each other in the sunshine (like I said we left the gallery) We were not bothering anyone & about to leave. The store manager Kirsten went out of her way to come out of their gallery to tell both my sons to be quiet and shoo us away. Because they were shooting something indoors. We left shocked but I returned to find out her name because I need to make customers aware of the racial & discriminatory manner in which they treat their customers particularly young children.

The audacity of the store manager Kirsten still shocks me. In all my experience of visiting high end galleries, my children & myself have always been made to feel welcome. I would think that would be a given being such a renowned gallery & artist. The fact that they think they own the public space in front of their gallery is as narcissistic as you can get - I made it clear they do not own the public space in front of their gallery as we had already left the quiet space & my sons’ chatter was no different to the road noise/ police cars/ fire trucks/ school excursions - which were all present on the road in front of their gallery anyways. She further advised me Ken Done was actually in store & filming so needed the silence.

Kirsten & KenDone staff- may you all please come to your senses & some basic common decency to realise that you do not own public spaces - especially when customers have already left your gallery most respectfully. You do not have control over public noises nor what happens on the road in front of your gallery. Should you desire such silence for filming - may I suggest closing your gallery doors & filming in private instead of being so rude to customers & innocent children. I am not one of those mothers that defend my children when they are misbehaving, but in this instance, they have done nothing wrong. To be well behaved in a gallery and then leave & just be talking happily as kids do outside to then be silenced & told leave was absolutely rude, discriminatory & unacceptable.

I have recently collected many lovely pieces of art for our new home. And I am certainly thrilled Ken Done is not going to grace any of the...

Ken Done's artworks were very lovely. Although, the blonde lady at the counter seemed quite arrogant and rude. She was talking to us like we couldn't understand English lol. When we were paying, she said "you have to tap faster", in a rude way, after we intentionally inserted the card because the chip wasn't working (I don't think tapping faster changes anything😅). Not even a thank you when we left.

Saw other reviews after I posted this and seems like we weren't the only ones that felt the same way. It's a shame as it brings down the reputation for the whole gallery just because...

I visited the Ken Done gallery recently with my family, my children included! It was such an incredible experience! The staff were so accomodating and pleasant and really helped us to have such a great time while we were there. The staff were more than happy to answer all of our questions (which was quite a few!) and give us their full attention. The children loved looking at all the incredible art and interacting with everyone there. We will definitely be visiting next time we are in the area. Thank you...