The Queensland Art Gallery levels up its iconic Australian Collection with a rehanging project
In many cultures, spring is traditionally a symbol for rebirth – it’s a time for us to start fresh and show the world what we’re made of. The Queensland Art Gallery has spent some serious time committing to this process and is finally ready to reveal to us the new and improved Australian Collection, re-presenting to the public the Gallery’s Australian art holdings in brand-new and innovative ways. Prepare to reconnect with some of the best and brightest art that our country has to offer!
The Queensland Art Gallery’s mega-talented curators and its Director Chris Saines have truly outdone themselves with the Australian Collection rehang, taking a rare opportunity to rejig and rejuvenate an already startlingly impressive body of work. Reconfigured spaces in the Gallery highlight major historical moments – from first contact to colonisation, and exploration to immigration. The Indigenous and contemporary Australian collections have been combined with the Gallery’s historical holdings to emphasise stories about Queensland and Brisbane from the region’s own perspective, adding an extra level of local significance. Major new contemporary works by Helen Johnson, Daniel Boyd, Dale Harding, Alick Tipoti and Sonja Carmichael have been added alongside celebrated and iconic art by Gordon Bennett, Arthur Boyd, Rupert Bunny, William Dobell, Ian Fairweather, Ethel Carrick Fox, R Godfrey Rivers, Sam Fullbrook, Vida Lahey, Sidney Nolan and many more.
To celebrate the Australian Collection rehang, Queensland Art Gallery is putting on a huge range of talks and activities for the opening weekend. On the Saturday, a host of QAGOMA all-stars including Chris Saines, Dr Kyla McFarlane and Michael O’Sullivan will be running a tour discussing how they devised a blueprint for the Australian collection rehanging. The weekend will also play host to a number of amazing Australian artist talks – you can hear from Dale Harding, Daniel Boyd, Sonja Carmichael, Helen Johnson and more discussing their works in the collection. When you add in a drop-in weaving circle and a panel on zombie art history, it’s shaping up to be a pretty darn great way to spend a weekend.
If you’re ready to beat the heat and feast your eyes upon the newly rehung Australian Collection, be sure to head to the Queensland Art Gallery from Saturday for a dose of home-grown culture.
Image credits
Image one: Grace Crowley / Abstract 1951 / Oil on cardboard / Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Image two: Howard Arkley / Stucco home 1991 / Synthetic polymer paint (with ‘Hammertone’) on canvas / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Image three: Richard Bell / Kamilaroi/Jiman/Kooma people / Judgement Day (Bell’s Theorem)(detail) 2008 / The James C Sourris, AM, Collection. Gift of James C Sourris, AM, through the QAGOMA Foundation 2013. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
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