Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2006-07

collection / QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY ANNUAL REPORT 06–07 13 Australian art A number of key acquisitions expanded the Gallery's holdings of Australian art. Peter Booth, an artist central to the story of late twentieth- century Australian art, produces visionary canvases of ravaged urban and natural landscapes. The Gallery's recent acquisition Untitled 2002 evokes the aftermath of some terrible destruction, devoid of human presence. Similarly, Stephen Bram's Untitled (Two point perspective) 2005 is a work that finds inspiration in unpopulated interiors; the artist's paintings represent spatial interiors where the geometry of abstraction meets the interior spaces of architecture. Architectural themes are also integral to two other recent acquisitions which build on the Gallery's holdings of contemporary Australian sculpture. Callum Morton's Silverscreen 2006 is a work that models the nostalgia of the outdoor cinema screen, and explores themes of destruction, decay and visual representation. Scott Redford's Proposal for a Surfers Paradise public sculpture/Paradise now 2006 complements other works by the artist in the Gallery's Collection and localises a classic 1950s Las Vegas advertising sign by adding a once well-known Gold Coast hotel name to explore the distinct urban fabric of the Gold Coast. Both acquisitions convey poignant messages of nostalgia, loss and desire. Like Redford, Natalya Hughes is a Queensland artist and her Two sisters 2006 is inspired by traditional costume designs found in woodblock prints from Edo period Japan. In this work, Hughes depicts only the clothing and eliminates the human presence inside the garments, experimenting with how far coded forms can be reduced before content becomes lost in a complex interplay of pattern. Toowoomba potter Phillip McConnell is a superb craftsman whose artistic vocabulary encompasses numerous Asian pottery styles and techniques. On his retirement from the industry last year, McConnell presented the Queensland Art Gallery with a gift of 41 works, in memory of his father Carl McConnell, also an accomplished potter. These key works document the span of his career and represent a significant acquisition for the Gallery's Collection. The Gallery has significant holdings of works by the artists Guan Wei, Fiona Hall, Klaus Moje, Susan Cohn and eX de Medici, and additional acquisitions of these artists' works were made during the year. Guan Wei's Echo 2005 is a contemporary history painting about the complex issues of migration, conquest, reconciliation, and Australia's status as a refuge for displaced persons. Hall's work Tender 2003–06 consists of dozens of simulacra of birds' nests skilfully fashioned from shredded American one-dollar bills and is a powerful reminder of the damage done to our world through collective indifference. Moje's Niijima CSOA 9/3 2000 represents a significant addition to the Gallery's contemporary glass collection by this senior Australian glass artist. This work is an outstanding example of the artist's roll-up technique where fused glass is rolled-up onto a blowpipe and formed into a vessel. Cohn is one of Australia's leading jewellers and craft commentators, and Cohndom box 1999 (selected in 1997 by Alessi as part of its mass-produced range) explores street culture and the empowering possibilities of individual choice. The Gallery is also developing a significant collection of works by eX de Medici, one of the Australian artists included in APT5. The black hues of de Medici's Live the (Big Black) Dream 2006, a meticulously rendered watercolour, imply overtones of repression and control and the fragility and brevity of life. Two major works by Queensland artists Vernon Ah Kee and Richard Bell were gifted by James C Sourris, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation, to the Gallery during the year. Vernon Ah Kee's neither pride nor courage 2006 and Bell's Theorem (Trikky Dikky and friends) 2005 by Richard Bell add significantly to the Gallery's holdings by these leading urban-based Indigenous artists. Complementing the carved ironwood tutini (grave posts) and two paintings by Pedro Wonaeamirri in the Gallery's Collection is the acquisition of Tunga (bark basket) Pwoja (Pukamani body paint design) 2006 by the artist, as well as Tunga (bark basket) star and moon design 2006 by fellow Tiwi artist Timothy Cook. In Tiwi culture, tunga are made and brought to the Pukamani mortuary ceremony by relatives of the deceased and contain gifts and offerings. Adrian King, a member of the original Lockhart River Art Collection One of the Queensland Art Gallery's key objectives is the development, management and conservation of the Collection to the highest art museum standards for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future audiences. With the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), a larger percentage of the state art collection (consisting of some 12 619 art works) is on display at any one time over the Gallery's two sites. Some 368 art works were acquired by the Gallery in 2006–07. Richard Bell Australia b.1953 Bell's Theorem (Trikky Dikky and friends) 2005 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Five panels: 240 x 480cm (overall) The James C Sourris Collection. Gift of James C Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2007