Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

I r <J..~8f!_ry finds :P million QUeenaland ·•t's style . . Art Gallery, which opena today, la atunn1n;. : Architect Robin Olbloo'1 . ~nc:ept. a low 1tructure on the a>uth bank of the Brllbane ~wr, la a cool maze of 15 p1. .aerfea Interposed with elevated 'Wallnraya. . ·:rbe key feature la a remartt- ' able '!water mall", 1lx pooll 1rlth dlffe,lng theme1 which THE ,..eplft.. t MW QaeeMlaad Art GalJn7 wlU h ellldallJ' ••••ed tMQ. aoes PEAK,E laad • pnylew •- talll.. te Nme el die peeple wlle wmna •t · bllect the centre and parallel , . the.river. From hla office, pllery dtrec- 1 ~ breathtaking view of the tor R&oul ~ellllb tatea In a· Jll'&D domtnatea the marbled .. dramatic 1Weep of river, f~· .entrance foyer. DlffUled 1un- ·,. way ~ dty high-rile. He la U,ht Will enter II metres fuc:ina&ed by the cbangtnr -above the water to U,ht the ~:ltle river, eapec:lally ~ery'i ce,\treptece, nine Im- ~ from laclc– -menae o~ntal kite• now · ~ to fterJ at 1wuet. ·betng flnlah~ In Sydney by . ·i .4.formerchamplonoanman, PeterTravliJ. he' would Wee to aee repttu ::~.The 4S-~~ long work Ls restored to the ,South BrLs- 4Nlll!ed to Whow the natUre of bane reach beside the pllery. -~ ~tted and re- "We could do much more fleeted.colo\ir. Below, submer- with the river. It would look led Jet.a Will sllenUy swirl the great with ilalllng boata here, .Wll.ter, while ferns droop along and we could have a ferry run, one•all. , a cultural crulae to brin1 vLsl– ·::'tbe completed mall will be a ton to the pllery,'.' he said. .~ light and airy haven, It was purely co-ln~ntal ~~ldltii'~e galleries from the ~ -t~ and education ' -~~ ...~ ,... the complex's We could . J;',ut;t~r; concrete walls gtvt! ·an '·unfortunate bunker- have a le....v Uke,.appearance. That ml1ht • • # be. Ute.case for a myopic ob- cul lleTYer, but others will see the rllftt 8 • purpose of carrying that bland tural c:ru1·se finllh Into the Interior. The floors are travertine .marble, beige wool-carpet and to b•ng .,;... -. Tasmanian oak parquetry. a • • .. Their muted hues, together b with the neutral walls, are an tor to t e lde.r . the dL,;play plece!rf. u ' T . square metres · · ga ery d1s ce Is being used , · • mou e major Interna- tional exhibitions tor the opening, along with some wor- the permanent coll lso on show are five · strles, on loan to the gallO,fY. Visitors will find small lounges scattered through the centre tor rest and peace, al– though they will not have to retrace their steps back to a central point to see all galler– ies. As they make their way, they will notice an inherent ."flow pattern" - viewing win– dows and gaps between galler– ies wlll give the impression of being part of a broader area through which many other 1,eople are passing. Masterpieces from the Idemitsu collection are being shown ln the largest gallery. It ls the first major exhibition of Japanese art ever to be held In Australia and features more than , 11)() works, Including pal.ntl.ngs .,and ca.Jllgraphies from the 121.1• cenklry and 11 neollthllc ·q_(!l'Jlon l><>t that•. dat.es to•thc second milleni&lm"" BO. that Mellish grew up on the same suburban BrLsbane block as the architect Olb.<lon. But the friendship meant they worked closely together on the planning and both are obvi– ously estatlc with the result. "There's no limit to what we can do now," Mellish said, al– though he could not always af– ford to be so expansive about future plans. Surprisingly, this , 1 s the gal– lery's first permanent home. Its 1895 beginning was In one room fitted out for rso in the now demolished Town Hall building In Queen Street. More recently the art treas– ures, displayed In the Exhibi– tion Building Concert Hall at Bowen Hills, were nearly lost during the record 1974 flood - not due to rising water, but the driving rain which pe– netrated the electrical wiring and Y.CIIUaect mµnerous short cJ-- ao"d ftte.. ·• .t,be Q~nsland Gov- e ~ the nct d fur . • i . I'-¥. permanent quarters for the pl)ery, it surprLsed DWIY people by adopting a generous phlloaophlcal approach to the arts. The result Ls the Queenaland Cultural Centre, of which.the gallery Is the flnlt major stage, The Pertormtnir Arts Oenu-e, acrou the road but linked by an -overhead walkway, should be flnLshed In two yeara. l\' rea– taurant and auditorium are already operating. Tenders are being called thla week for a mu.aeum. the final stage, ex– pected to be completed by 1985. It Ls poulble that the centre wlll be named Bouthbank, to rtve It an ldenUty In ~e city. Bet In ·the river, directly In front of the pllery, Ls the · Queen Ellr.abeth II Sliver Ju– bilee fountain. Although costs Jlmit It& operation, the central Jet" can shoot a column 76 metres Into the air, while nine smaller ·nozzles spray 30 metres high. Melllah believes the proxlln– lty of the Pefonnlng Arts Cen– tre will lead to a cross pollenl– satlon. "For Instance during a season of ballet, we could mount a display of decor de- sign," he said. . "Patrons wlll be able to move throughout the complex to see the exhibitions as well as the ballet." Gallery prolll(\tlon officer Jane Whitehead has seen the edifice rise from a dusty car park. She describes it as hav– ing a "relaxed elegance". "It's a very functional gallery but has captured the cool charm and relaxed atmos– phere of Brisbane," she said. On the western side of the building, Gibson ·has fashioned a sculpture garden. A cafeteria with both Indoor and outdoor dining areas over– looks this garden and the ".iter mall. The gallery's doors will be open to the public this evening after the official opening as fireworks Ught the sky. Shortly Mellish and his staff wlll face the task of erecting scaffolding in the water mall to hang the kites. Then he has to prepare tor the Queen's visit and special exhlbltlons lo coincide with the Commonwealth Games. He udmlt..., lt's going to be a busy 1- but cnom1ously excit– ing -year at the gallery. -GALLERY director RAOU Exhibitions tb; I T . HE t{uge space in' the new Que<insland Art 1 ,' :- Gallery demands fl exibi ·and Imagi– native use ani:F.lli .&~tly filled with a 'r'lcn,7~· for both eye and mind:-. ·: 1• .. · The large temporary exhibi– tion gallery op the ground level, admirably divided into intimate spaces, houses the Masterpieces of the Idemitsu Collection, a l:omprehensive selection of Japanese paint– ing':;, and calligraphies. The collection complete with tea ceremony offers valuable in– sight Into the Japanese aes– thetic tradition. The major Kandinsky exhib– ition from New York's Gug– genheim Museum, surveys Kandinsky's de ,elopment •to abstract art, and charts the in – tense lyricism M his work - some singing with the sheer joy of ilne and colour. The Peter Stuyvesant Foundation which sponsored this show has also loaned the gallery five large Jean Lurcat tapestries. Lurcat, important in the de– velopment or modern French tapestry, uses emblems of flora and rauna. life and grow– th . He combines Intense colour :rnd intricate detail into a dec– orative fantasy Thr lllPf•stries are w.-11 iit-ed in foyer and passage - SARAH FC areas and brlng large wall spac1 teley's symbolic thur Rimbaud I~ placed and offs1 Oerche's powe portrait or Char which greets u trance. In addl the extensive E, exhibition of 1 prints curated t Whitney Muse, other exhibition its way around A Toum, Countr Sea a selection drawings and from the Fi tzwtl Cambridge, co: Australian tour i The works w, chosen to chart ment of the Brit and watercolor 1 350 years lrom Dyck to Paul Na: The earli<!st drawings, show 1 nuence of 1leta1 draughtsmanshi1 often executed t, or i llackgfoun \ .