Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1994-95

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS The national media announcement of the exhibition of works such as Buddha returns to Bangkok '92 1992 by His Excellency Monsieur Phillipe Baude, then which was displayed in the first Asia-Pacific Triennial. Ambassador of France to Australia, and the media preview resulted in excellent press, radio and television coverage nationally and locally. The exhibition was made possible through the generosity of major sponsor Eunos Australia, and additional national sponsorship provided by Singapore Airlines, Ansett Australia, ITT Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and Network Ten. The exhibition was supported locally by The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail and ABC Radio 612 4QR. Major competition promotions were conducted with the assistance of ITT Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and Ansett Australia in The Weekend Australian and Singapore Airlines in The Sunday Mail. After its Brisbane season, the exhibition continued at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Both 'Renoir .. .' and 'Matisse' required considerable input from Gallery staff in all program areas, and the employment of a Project Officer. International acquisitions Another major purchase was Expansion of poetry, a 1913 futurist work by Leonardo Dudreville that is characteristic of the Italian art movement's attempts to depict the essence of twentieth-century technological advancement and industrialisation. Purchased with funds from the International Exhibitions Program, this work makes an excellent addition to the Gallery's holdings of early twentieth– century art, joining a small group of works that explore the beginnings of Modernism. United States artist Ken Friedman gave two of his works to the international collection as a result of the Gallery's 1993-94 exhibition and publication Fluxus and after... As one of the leading theorists of the Fluxus movement, his small sculptural pieces President Kekkonen's tooth 1987 and Tristan & Isolde 1992 are important within the context of the Gallery's Fluxus works. The Gallery was delighted to host a visit by contemporary British artist Richard Long, who installed his work Ring of stones 1982, purchased in 1993. The artist also created an adjacent site-specific mud painting for Gallery 3, made from Brisbane River sediment. Both works are examples of Long's In line with the Gallery's commitment to building ongoing involvement with the landscape in both an a significant collection of contemporary Asian art, aesthetic and physical sense, creating elegant forms Self portrait in Kusamba Beach 1983 by Indonesia's that trace his interaction with the natural world. renowned expressionist painter Affandi was acquired. This work is an excellent example of his oeuvre, typical of his free and gestural drawing in paint. Second Asia-Pacific Triennial As Affandi is regarded as a major influence on of Contemporary Art contemporary south-east Asian artists, this work provides a pertinent context for purchases made for The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art, formed in 1994 with works purchased from the inaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. The Gallery is continuing its commitment to presenting the diverse and dynamic contemporary art of the Asia-Pacific region through the second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.The 1996 Asia-Pacific Triennial will open on 26 September 1996 and continue until January 1997. A major conference, The Gallery also acquired awork by Vasan Sitthiket, catalogue, artists talks, performances and an one of Thailand's foremost artists. Fate of the extensive visitors program will accompany the conservationist monk 1994 from Vasan's 'Nature is exhibition. Participating artists will be selected from dying' series is an excellent example of his more Indonesia, Malaysia , the Philippines, Singapore, recent work, which follows the social commentary Thailand, Vietnam, India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,