Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report

Anne Wallace Australia b.1970 That was long ago 2005 Oil on canvas, 91 x 127cm The James C Sourris Collection. Purchased 2005 with funds from James C Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation exhibitions and audiences / QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY ANNUAL REPORT 05/06 25 ‘The Art of Fiona Hall’ toured to the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, following its showing at the Gallery in March–June 2005. This Queensland Art Gallery organised exhibition was the first survey show of this leading artist’s work to be organised by an Australian gallery in more than a decade. ‘Press Pause: Recent Australian Video Installations’ profiled the rise of video installation in contemporary Australian art, presenting three major installations from the Gallery’s Collection by Susan Norrie, David Rosetzky and Daniel von Sturmer. A showcase of the work of one of Australia’s foremost contemporary jewellers, ‘Barbara Heath: Jeweller to the Lost’ presented jewellery and small sculptural objects created from the mid 1980s to 2005. The exhibition and accompanying publication demonstrated Heath’s distinctive approach to creating contemporary jewels and objects imbued with histories, narratives and symbolism. Public programming supporting the exhibition included talks by the artist and curator, as well as a children’s workshop where budding designers worked with the artist to create their own contemporary wearables. The concurrent showing at the Gallery of two major Australian touring exhibitions — ‘Margaret Preston: Art and Life’, organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales; and ‘Grace Cossington Smith: A Retrospective Exhibition’, organised by the National Gallery of Australia — enabled Queensland audiences to explore both the synergies and points of difference between these pioneering Australian modernists. Public lectures such as ‘Margaret Preston and the Australian Languages of Flowers’ by Julie Ewington, Head of Australian Art, explored different aspects of each artist’s work. To celebrate National Youth Week, younger audiences were encouraged to engage with the exhibitions, with free entry offered for one day in April to those aged under 25. In addition, local contemporary artists Daniel Mafé and Marian Drew responded to Preston and Cossington Smith’s works in a series of talks as part of the Gallery’s New Wave tertiary program. In April, the Gallery and project partner Xstrata Coal launched a new, three-year national initiative for emerging Indigenous artists. The initiative encompasses an annual exhibition and $30 000 acquisitive award, as well as a $50 000 annual grant for the continued development of the Gallery’s Indigenous Australian art collection. Ten artists from urban, regional and remote community-based areas of Australia were selected by the Award selection committee for the inaugural ‘Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award’ in 2006: Roma Nyutjangka Butler (Irrunytju, Western Australia), Lorraine Connelly-Northey (Swan Hill, Victoria), Timothy Cook (Melville Island, Northern Territory), Nici Cumpston (Adelaide, South Australia), Emily Evans (Mornington Island, Queensland), Mignonette Jamin (Kununurra, Western Australia), Jonathan Jones (Sydney, New South Wales), Sally Gabori (Mornington Island, Queensland), Raelene Kerinauia (Melville Island, Northern Territory) and Minnie Lumai (Kununurra, Western Australia). The winner, announced at a special reception on 7 April, was Jonathan Jones for his work lumination fall wall weave 2004/2006. The Award selection committee described the winning entry as ‘a beautifully crafted work, suggesting many possible readings. It reveals a sophisticated understanding of Indigenous arts practice today’. The Gallery hosted eight of the ten exhibiting artists in Brisbane for the exhibition opening, with several artists presenting talks for the visiting public. During the year the Gallery also presented a special exhibition focused on a key work from its historical Asian EXHIBITIONS AND AUDIENCES The Queensland Art Gallery’s 2005–06 exhibitions program had a strong emphasis on Australian and Indigenous Australian art, from early modernist paintings to contemporary jewellery and installation.