Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2002-03

COLLECTION The Queensland Art Gallery continued to develop its Collection in accordance with its Acquisition Policy 2001-05. A total of 224 works were acquired, with particular focus on strengthening the Gallery's collections of contemporary Asian and Indigenous Australian art. Asian and Pacific art Highlights for the Asian and Pacific art department included the purchase of Ah Xian's Human human - lotus, cloisonne figure 1 2000-01, and collection development undertaken in conjunction with the 'Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 2002' (APT 2002) Chinese-Australian artist Ah Xian's Human human - lotus, cloisanne figure 1 2000-01, one of the most significant figurative sculptures of recent years, was purchased using the Queensland Government's Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund. This life-size cast won the inaugural National Sculpture Prize (2001) at the National Gallery of Australia and, in 2002, was exhibited at New York's Asia Society Galleries. The work was made using the traditional cloisonne technique perfected by the Chinese in the mid fifteenth century, and features the lotus flower as a symbolic and decorative motif. It adds to a group of four porcelain busts by Ah Xian already in the Gallery's Collection, and will be the focus of an exhibition and publication in late 2003. Collection development has been an important aspect of the Triennial since its inception. APT 2002 again provided the Gallery with the opportunity to make a large number of significant acquisitions, with 43 of the 91 works included in the exhibition now part of the Gallery's Collection. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama was commissioned to produce Soul under the moon 2002 - a major work for APT 2002, based on her 'Mirror/Infinity room' works, which became one of the most popular works of the exhibition. A successful appeal was undertaken by the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation to purchase the work. Through the generosity of donors to this campaign, including major contributions from The Myer Foundation and Michael Simcha Baevski, the Gallery became the first in 12 Australia, and one of only three in the world, to acquire a 'Mirror/Infinity room' by Kusama. This acquisition was accompanied by the gifting of the work Narcissus garden 1966/2002 to the Gallery by the artist. The Gallery's collection of work by eminent Australian landscape painter William Robinson was enriched by a suite of seven exquisite pastels gifted to the Gallery by the artist. Noted for his finely detailed application of oil paint in his panoramic landscapes, the artist's use of Other APT 2002 works acquired or gifted included those pastel on these smaller works seems ideally suited to by Lee U-fan (South Korea/Japan). Montien Boonma his mark making on a more intimate scale. (Thailand). Heri Dono (Indonesia). Nalini Malani (India). Song Dong (China). Sofia Tekela-Smith (Aotearoa New Zealand/Pacific islands). Niki Hastings-Mcfall (Aotearoa New Zealand) and Lisa Reihana (Aotearoa New Zealand). These acquisitions augment the Gallery's contemporary Asian and Pacific collections, and further develop the depth and substance of a collection that is now one of the most significant of its kind. Australian art Significant collection development in Indigenous Australian art, particularly the acquisition of works by Queensland artists, was undertaken by the Australian art department during the year. Development of the 'Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest' project involved works by Indigenous artists of Cape York Peninsula being commissioned or acquired for the Gallery's Collection. Among these were major works by senior artists such as Arthur Koo-ekka Pambegan Jr's Flying Fox Story Place 2002-03 and Ron Yunkaporta's Thuuth thaa' munth (Law pales] 2002-03 which will be key works in the forthcoming 'Story Place' exhibition. Important examples of contemporary paintings, works on paper, sculptures and weavings were also acquired. Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists' work also formed part of APT 2002-related acquisitions. These included two photographic portfolios by Michael Riley, and the oil painting Counter space 1999 by the late Western Australian painter Howard Taylor. A collection of small paintings, drawings and collages created over 15 years by Brisbane artist Eugene Carchesio was also acquired following APT 2002. Titled 187 works for the People's Republic ofSpiritual Revolution 1975-90, the work complements a group of 13 collaborative pieces by Carchesio and Gordon Bennett acquired by the Gallery in 1990. The Gallery also purchased a major work by Lyndal Jones, one of Australia's leading interdisciplinary artists, whose practice encompasses video, installation, sound and performance. Jones's work has been characterised by long-running narratives, in instalments, of a directly personal nature. From the Darwin Translations: Room with finches or Freud's couch 1994 continues this narrative, and is primarily based on discourses about sex, gender and personal development, informed by the writings of Charles Darwin and his theories of sexual selection. International art A diptych by Sigmar Polke was the foremost acquisition for the Gallery's international art collection during the year. Widely recognised as one of the most significant German artists of our time, Sigmar Polke's work addresses Western consumer culture with a critical and satirical eye. Venusian enemy who went from high society to marry a prince; The Jersey Royal 2000 belongs to a recent series of Polke's paintings which have been the subject of important exhibitions around the world (including a showing at Britain's Tate Modern, scheduled for October 2003). The Gallery also acquired a major work by the influential London-based group Art Et Language. Titled Sighs trapped by liars 702-786 1997, the work is made from brightly painted canvases assembled into 'Mondrian-esque' tables and chairs, and presents multi-layered concerns that have occupied the Art Et Language collective for almost 35 years. Established in May 1968 by four British artists, Art Et Language has been instrumental in promoting conceptual art. A number of artists and theorists from the United States and Australia, including the artist Ian Burn, were actively involved during the early years of the collective.