Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2006-07

QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY ANNUAL REPORT 06–07 / collection 14 Gang, works in a naive style of painting and in the recent acquisition All Blacks 2005, he depicts a local football match in the Lockhart River community by using beautifully bold colours. Several works by senior Arnhem Land and APT5 artist Djambawa Marawili, including Burrut'tji (lightning serpent) 2006, Garangali 2006 and Dhanbarr (Hollow log memorial pole) 2006, were also acquired for the Gallery's Collection. Influenced by traditional woodcarving patterns, APT5 artist Dennis Nona's Kerr kerr 2006 is a large-scale print exploring the medicinal and healing properties of plants specific to the artist's home in the Torres Strait (in this case, mountain bush ginger used to heal sick babies). Another two linocuts by Dennis Nona — Dangau pui 2006 and Mazzaru 2006 — were also acquired for inclusion in APT5. Mosquito man corroboree platter and Mosquito man egg , both 2006, by renowned Queensland ceramic artist Thanakupi add to the significant body of work by this artist already in the Gallery's Collection. The works depict the story of the mosquito corroboree, or knoolu. Morning ride c.1946 by Kenneth Macqueen enhances the Gallery's already substantial collection of watercolours by this leading Queensland modernist. It depicts the farming life of the artist, and will feature in the major Macqueen exhibition to be held by the Gallery in late 2007. The gift, by Foster's Group Ltd through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation, of (Indigenous gathering, Far North Queensland) 1892 by Tom Roberts, represents a significant addition to the Gallery's collection of historical Australian art and is one of the few paintings to have survived from his one visit to north Queensland. Also acquired during the year were a major mid-1960s drawing by Tony Tuckson, gifted by the artist's widow through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation, and Robert Walker's photographic portraits of the artist Ian Fairweather, which complement the Gallery's holdings of Fairweather's seminal works. Asian and Pacific art The collecting focus of APT5 ensured a strong year for the acquisition of contemporary Asian and Pacific works for the Gallery's Collection. The Gallery received a significant gift from eminent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei of his seven-tiered chandelier Boomerang 2006. Boomerang was a site-specific installation commissioned for APT5 and the Gallery's Watermall. The work, composed of 270 000 glass lustres, playfully responds to its reflection and refraction over the body of water, and is a monument to contemporary consumption. During the year several significant works by contemporary Chinese artists were acquired by the Gallery from the collection of Professor Nicholas Jose and curator Dr Claire Roberts. These works encapsulate the innovative spirit of Chinese avant-garde art from 1979 onwards, and include an early drawing by Fang Lijun and three historically important paintings by Gu Wenda, as well as Reincarnation 1989 by Zhang Xiaogang and Flowery bicycle 1989 by Yu Youhan. Pakistani–Australian artist Nusra Latif Qureshi makes exquisite paintings about contemporary issues by deploying the South Asian miniature. In the suite of paintings acquired by the Gallery, Qureshi privileges the role of women. In contrast to Qureshi's paintings, Khadim Ali's main source of inspiration in the 2006 series 'Rustam-e-pardar' (Rustam with wings) is Rustam, the powerful winged god of Persian legend. Rustam is the celebrated hero in the Shahnama (Book of Kings) . Ali's finely rendered, yet demonic, figures reference the Taliban's controversial identification with Rustam. Bharti Kher, a London-born Indian artist living and working in New Delhi, is known for her use of the ready-made bindi as a central motif of her practice. This tiny decoration is employed as a means of transforming objects and surfaces. The skin speaks a language not its own 2006 depicts a reclining adult elephant. The monumental form of the elephant is at odds with its defenceless, sprawling posture, and the work is a meditation on suffering, incapacity and subjection. Eko Nugroho is one of the leading members of the younger generation of Indonesian artists, and Trick me please 2006 is one of a series of cartoon-like embroidery images which show the irreverence with which many young Indonesians regard the elite. Tun Salleh Abbas 2005 by the Malaysian artist Paiman is from an ongoing series 'The code', a collection of playful drawings providing an 'alternative' guide to Malaysian history using the style of the political cartoon. The work critiques the power and influence of media and political spin, alerting us to the dangers of believing what we read and hear. AIDS Series/Geisha in Bath 1988 by Masami Teraoka adopts the format and visual language of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints to satirically comment on contemporary issues in an age of AIDS. This major painting by Teraoka, whose international practice spans three decades, ensures the Gallery maintains a strong representation of works by this artist. Yoo Seung-ho is one of a select generation of Korean artists praised for rejuvenating the artistic and spiritual practice of the traditional arts in Korea. At first glance, yodeleheeyoo! 2006 appears to pay homage to the glorious age of Chinese landscape painting. On closer inspection, the presumed brushstrokes appear as tiny, grain-size Hangul (Korean script), which are selected for the sound they create when spoken. Expanding the Gallery's Pacific collection is Michael Parekowhai's What's the time Mr Woolf 2005, which references an Ans Westra photograph of a 1960s classroom where teachers were not permitted to teach the Maori language to Maori children. The work's title refers to a scene in the New Zealand film Once Were Warriors 1994, where the Heke family is singing as they drive to visit the young Boogie, who is in state care for engaging in acts of petty crime. Ironically, it is while in custody that Boogie begins to connect with his Maori heritage and grow mentally and physically stronger. Fiona Pardington, an established New Zealand artist, has been photographing hei tiki (neck ornaments) in museum collections since 2001. The beautifully expressive carved objects carry the wearer's whakapapa (geneaology) and are sought to emanate mauri (life force). Through her work, the artist seeks to share these precious taonga with a wider public who are mostly familiar with plastic, commercialised tiki. Fiona Hall Australia b.1953 Tender (detail) 2003–06 US dollars, wire and vitrines 220 x 360 x 500cm (installed, variable) Purchased 2006. The Queensland Government's Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund