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

_,. The Australian 25 June 1982 Artful Bjelke puts ~9elf ~ the picture TII ERE can be no real argument that . · Bjelke– Petersen is 11 work of art. Opinions 1,1ay dillPr as t,o what form of art - some may see him in the cubist (as In square) school ; others may look upon him as a primitive. Few, one thinks, would clas– sify him In the chocolate-box school. (Peanut brittle. Hor– tense? Art - but not art.) But a work of art he Is. An artist In his own brand of pol– itics - a master of the ab– stract, his fuzzy-edged verbal strokes leaving confused post– impressions In allies and enemies alike. He is the big Dada or Queensland. so to speak. The plcayune Picasso of pointillist politics. Thus, it should not be sur– prising to find his portrait in oils leading all Lhe rest In the newly-opened Queensland Art Gallery. There It hangs, first painting on the left IL~ you go In - Sir William Dargie's unsuccessful entry In last year's Archibald Prize, depicting Lhe Premier In a brown suit, with hair ruffled and showing his teeth slightly In the beginning or either a smile or a snarl. It should not be surprisi ng to find Mr B-P there - but the painting's prominent position has already caused some of his enemies to s Lart back, with I s. Kennedy~'s~~ Comer ~, ~ . ~ ... ~ "What," triundered the Labor Opposition's spokesman on the arts, Mr Warburton. "are the implications of Its position there?" What, Indeed - particularly as it's on the left. The $28 million gallery, o_pened last Monday as the first part of an immense cul– tural complex on the south bank of the Brisbane River ls a superb piece or work, hea~lly concrete-grey on Lhe outside but light and airy and with a marvellously open feeling inside. This Is largply due to a hugely imaginntiv!' thing they call the Water Mall - a chain or six pools and fountains run– ning through the building. It takes a bit or getting used to. So far, at least six people (including one at the official opening) have walked into It Imagining it to be a footway, ' It's not very deep ... but who do they think they are? Mr Whltlarn? - BUZZ KENNEDY ~he Sunday Mail 27 June 198 2 the arts by FREDERIC ROGliRS At last, a home to be proud of For years we talked about it. For more yeara, it aeemed, we watched it grow and now we have it ...:... the Queensland Art Gallery for the first time in ita own home - on the south bank of the river. ; And wha1 a home it 1s! Lei the ,01J1hern sta te s prate of their opera hou,es and art µallcries, the Queensland Art G,illery more .than hold s it own against any similar institu– tion in Australia. The somewhat austere geometrical · simplici iy of the building, topping a landscaped grassy slope from the river, is a tribute to architect Robin Gib– son 's aesthetic restraint and stands in reproachful ,ont J,t to that piec.: of vanda11sm of the north bank, the frecwav, which, per iorce, it overlo~ks. But ii is within, where the stau ·, art tre as ures ma y be displayed as they ~hould be, and maintained as thev must be, that its ·real v;l11e and allraction . lies. ;o..;o fc"er th;in 14 g,iller– ics have been provided - a feature which makes provi – sion fort he display of visi t• ing or 'spc~ia l e~hibitions witnout dist11rbam:cs of the pcrm~ncnl display. Already, this function hand a program of activi– ha s been availed of with ties complemehting cur– five concurrent visiting ~ll- rent showings; and there is hibitio,,., on \'iew - "The a .s.hop where reproduc- · World of Edward 11ons,~tersandartbooks Hopper", "Masterpieces ·may~ purchased. from the Idemitsu CoUec- The inner requirements lion" from Japan, worb of of visitors have not been Kandiansky on loan fr.om forgotten. There ia I c:af• the Guggenheim Museum . teria with indoor Ind Olll; of New York, Renaissance door accommodation . bronzes and related draw- where, durin111llery : ing•1 from the Ashmolcan hours, liaht meal, may be·· Muxum. Oxford, and, taken, accompan.._ it "I' frcim the Fitzwilliam Mu- desired, by beer c,t&aelec:~ scum, ca·mbridge, "Town, tion of wines for ylltcb i.11- Country, Shore and S~a" cence is held. -·· a selection of Rrilish N~r have the disabled drawings and watercolors. been forgolten . A system · It is now possiolc, for the of'ramp5 and elevatars·hu first time. for the Queens- been devised for ·access to land Art Gallery to display all public areas of the Ja)• . pieces of the dimensions of lery•a~d carpark. · ·· five Lurcat tapestries Monday, June 22, 1982, which have been presented was a red-letter day in-the on peri!'anent loan by th, history of art in Queens– Peter Stuyvc.,ant Cultural land . More than that, it Foundation . wa s a great day for .the Fdu,ational features ,tateandallwholivethere. have been incorporated - And the best way to a small cinema will be used show appreciation of the for presentations relating gift then bestowed is to use tn major exhibitions; an it - again, again and education section has in ;igain. f j .i r ,'