Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 9 : Construction of the cultural centre, 1977-1981

The pace of change in Brisbane In six months the new Queensland Art Gallery will be officialh' opened. In the 87 years since the gallery was founded, the collection has been lo– cated in various temporary buildings. T he nrw building prom• · s lo ~c o handsome om for Lile v1su.1I urt, 111 rlsbane. IL 1s 1hc first. hose of a cullural ,. nlre •hich will include o p •r– m1lng-arts complrx. lhe uecnslnnd Museum und tote Library, as well as a s Lau rnnt a nd aud l– rium. Situated on the ver bank. it will revive c somcwhat shnbby side l-hc city. I wanted t.o photograph car repnlr shop which ught my eye nt the back f the gallery. Its Sib'll said 1at it was "Cultural Re, rays" but when I re- med with my cumera c sign had gone . 1ch ls the pace of change 1 Brisbane.. whrlm111gly pristine. with un rnonnous amount of wall ,puce I hope Lim t lwy hll\'{' rnough \\'01k llf high ,rnnclnrd. and IUrRc l!llUtJ~ h . to fill 11 l wns :-.now11 u g:nrl,!rous rOl)Ol, clran and ,·ubh.:. Lo bt.' 11:,rd for <·xpf'nmt·11t,1I ur1 und f \\'om1cr how t!:c 1:allC'ry w1 I cop,• \\'tlt1 those rxperm1cntal nr 1s s who " d O their OWII lhlll~ . ,, 1Lh tum 1cs of earth or offnl Ill pcrformJnces lllld inst :1ll nt ,ons. The archi cc - Robin 01bsc,n - h1.1s managed Lo achieve u foeling of sub– dued elegance and hos a– vo ldcd I.he mannered styltst,c emph sis of some of the nf'II' art gallerirs. His bu1ldmg promises lo net as a foll to an. which ls as it shoulrl be. The old myth of urclutt..'ct m·c as thr mother oft he arr s has worn rathrr thirt during I he p:,st 5 years. The low prnfilc building or off-while · ncrete and bronze glazing will be set off IJy terraced, foliage• cm·rrrd uri•as. and will f 1 a111n• a w,llcr mull. Al the moment, th,· sile n•m111ds mr, c,r the fcclin~ nt th1• nrrh!ll'cturc of lh,~ unc·11•11t world. 1':~.iCIlj' oppo:,,1lc thr t.:,dh.''1'. Jr·m:-s the rt\' ·r. 1h,• n •w L .1',\' Courl:, hun:: Just IJrpn llPl'fli'd Ins1dr. thr ' hal'c ,1 l.trg andJndi– c·1011sly sombre 111urnl b,· L,1wrcncc Daws a11d lhe outsldr or th bu1lc1tng rca1urcs Mlmr. lntn~1.111i; or[gun11-llkc sunshude fo1111s. Obviously Brisbone ls busily renusrrnt with red spo s on pnmtlncs and prints In the ~nl!crlcs, sug– gcst.lng Uint trnclc 1s good. The sculptures of Adel– aide's Tony Bishop v:r re ~upcrl ly houser! l11 the R.cy Hugh11s gnllery. Vis1·1n~ Queensland Un1vcrslty Art Onllery– w.is impressive. It has un cx:crllcnt. and growin~ col– lecllon of contemporary art as well ns housing the lovf'ly Nonnnn Behan rot– lccllon of Australtan art and a I rnvcllln8' Lloyd R<•cs show The ga llery ,·ornpared ,·cry favornbly with t lle finr M lboume Univrrslty ,\rt Galler,' nncJ Syclnr~··s Power lnstttutc Colle - tton. Seeing these uni\'ers1 y collectIon, rcmmdrd me agnm of my biased bcltcf thnt no hi lll'r educa iou Instit ute, bt It unlvcr. tY or johnny-romc -lntel y C,\E. ran rlnm1 to br a tn1r scm of !c, m lng with– out an art collection. ~al– lcry and art t.coehing pro– gram. I notIce. on my retum, thnt the friends of tlto Art Gallery of SA arc plan– ning n co11stn1ctive np– pralsul of the Edwards.re– port and a public cam• palgn for lmplcmematlon of some pans. but not others. of the report . Con– r em 1s being expressed about the inadequacy of the rccomme nd n tlons conccmln'1 1he Art G nl– lerr·s future .. perhaps the plans nrc for a respmy Job and not a rebuild. __., VISUAL ARTS ·Neville Weston • • •