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

\ . l ,r The New Queensland Art Gallery Opens its Doors "This is our first and final home and the Gallery will now take its place with other State Galleries" says Director, Raoul Mellish ON THE 21st June, 1982, the Queensland Art Gallery will be of– ficially opened, completing Stage 1 of the Queensland Cultural Centre - 87 years to the day after the Gallery 's founding in 1895. Since that time, the Gallery has been located in a number of temporary premises, none of which have been entirely suitable, lacking both the space and facilities required by a rapidly expanding institution. The new Art Gallery, costing $26 million provides over 6000 square metres of display space. Occupying two basic levels, the Gallery comprises no less than 15 exhibition areas allowing for the display of both its own Collection and a wide range of loan exhibi– tions. On loan from the Collection of the Guggenheim Museum, New York, will be an exhibition of Kan– dinsky (read review in this issue). Another important loan exhihi• tion is "Japan ..,_ Treasures from the Idemitsu Collection" from the highly respected Idemitsu Museum in Tokyo. Never before has a major exhibition of Japanese art toured the country, and many of the works to be seen are classified by the Japanese authorities as Important Cultural Properties. The Collection covers a wide range of arts with the main emphasis on the arts of China, Korea and Japan. Only the masterpieces of the ARTS NEWS Collection are included in this ex• hibition which comprises 32 pieces of ceramic and 51 paintings in the various formats of screens, hang– ing scrolls, handscrolls and albums. One's first impression of the new Gallery is the magnificent en– trance to it, framed by massive bronze glazed glass doors, opening to an expansive foyer of travertine marble. Dominating the area is a breathtaking view of the Water Mall, a feature of the building which traverses the Gallery and _runs parallel with the river. With a soaring height of 10.6 metres the Mall is crowned with a stunning skylight designed to deflect the direct rays of the sun, yet fill the area with natural light. Greenery will spill from in-built planter boxes along the overhead hal· conies and together with the or– namental water pools below, create an overall atmosphere of cool tranquility . The Mall physically separates the exhibi– tion galleries with their relaxed en• vironment from the busier Ad– ministration, Education and Reference Library sections. Integrated with the Gallery will he a large outdoor sculpture garden. Complementing the permanent display of works in the Queensland Art Gallery 's Collection, travelling exhibitions will be organised on a regular basis. These in recent years have included important in- temational exhibitions and this trend will continue as a means of bringing the art of the world to Queensland. Not only Interna– tional xhibitions, hut important Aust: Jlian ones will be presented at the Gallery in 1982, providing a wide range of displays to interest all tastes. A source of much interest for many people will be the Ex– perimental Gallery which will be used to focus attention on the more innovative and challenging aspects of contemporary art. This area could, for example, be used to mount large-scale kinetic art, tac• tile displays and exhibitions mai~ ing special use of lighting effects and sound. The sweeping plazas which are terraced along the riverside of the Gallery are public areas which the Gallery on occasion will use for community entertainment programmes, performed to high– light the theme of a particular exhibition. On the upper level of the Gallery; the Conservation areas and Collection storage are located. This enormous space has been designed to accommodate the Gallery 's needs until the tum of the century, an essential considera· tion given the expanding collec• tion. • The opening of the new Queensland Art Gallery in June 1982 will herald a new era, the most important in the Gallery 's history. NINE