Receiving and unpacking acquisitions can be an exciting but also a nervous moment for a gallery conservator. This is the first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the artwork you have heard so much about from your colleagues, but you are also well aware of the risks involved with transporting artworks, and this is the…
Youthful transgressions and immaturity play out in many fairy tales, but few are as heartbreaking as Oscar Wilde’s original tale, ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, one of five stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888), his collection written for children. This affecting tale exploring themes of unrequited love, sacrifice and superficiality is captured…
Continue reading » “Fairy Tales: ‘The Nightingale & the Rose’ reimagined”
The ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 28 April 2024 brings together a selection of 15 works from contemporary American and Spanish artists Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz’s ongoing ‘Travelers’ series of snow globes, acquired for the Collection with the generous support of Tim Fairfax AC, each of which presents…
Continue reading » “Fairy Tale intrigue abounds in snow globes”
Sitting astride a black horse decorated with beading, crochet, skulls and flea-market finds, a red-turbaned figure stands at a crossroad of histories, cultures and materials. Ambassador 2 (illustrated), acquired with funds from Tim Fairfax AC, comes to the Gallery from celebrated British artist Hew Locke’s series of equestrian statues adorned with symbols of regality and…
Australian artist Jonny Niesche’s artworks investigate how we perceive and experience the space around us. In these three pieces — Schein blossom (feueur), Schein blossom (mond), and Schein blossom (sonnen) 2020 (illustrated) — Niesche stretches multiple layers of digitally printed sheer voile fabric over one another, creating vibrating and pulsating patterns that can be seen…
Australian artist Isaac Walter Jenner (1836–1902) painted Cape Chudleigh, Coast of Labrador in 1893 and reworked it in 1895 (illustrated). The grand history painting depicts the search led by British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer Sir Edward Belcher (1799–1877) to rescue the ill-fated 1845 British expedition by Sir John Franklin (1786–1847) which set out to…
Continue reading » “Isaac Walter Jenner’s grand history mystery”
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.