Journeys North: Robert Mercer’s photographs focus on local culture

Robert Mercer’s photographs feature Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in far north Queensland, focusing on local culture, work places and events. Following is his artist statement from the original ‘Journeys North’ exhibition. These photographs emanate from two trips I made to northern regions of Queensland. In September 1986, I visited Yarrabah Aboriginal mission, Cairns, Mantaka and…

Journeys North: Graham Burstow’s photographs concentrate on leisure

In the years leading up to 1988, the Galley commissioned six photographers to produce a portfolio on the theme of community life in Queensland entitled ‘Journeys North’. Their images looked at attitudes to Australian community life, and the unique qualities of the Queensland lifestyle, land and environment. Last exhibited January 1988 it is an ideal time…

Is a proposal in the air?

Chester Earles was initially trained as a miniature portrait painter at the London National Gallery, England and exhibited widely before migrating to Victoria in early 1864 where he continued to paint in his spare time. Earles was regularly praised for his figurative painting when most artists in Australia were already turning to landscape. Interior with…

Journeys North Revisited

In the mid 1980s, with the financial assistance of the Australian Bicentennial Authority, the Queensland Art Gallery commissioned six photographers to produce a portfolio of black and white works on the theme of community life in Queensland. First exhibited in 1988, the Gallery now presents a comprehensive selection from this portfolio, allowing us to see…

Laurence Collinson, Australia 1925–86, Cooper’s Park 1945

Charles Blackman and Brisbane’s young artists and writers

Charles Blackman while in Brisbane in early 1948 met the young artists of the Miya Studio, including Laurence Hope, Don Savage, and Laurence Collinson, and the closely affiliated group of Barjai writers, including Barrett Reid. DELVE DEEPER: KNOW BRISBANE through the QAGOMA Collection SIGN UP NOW: SUBSCRIBE TO QAGOMA BLOG for the next Queensland Story…

The lure of Brisbane’s sun on Charles Blackman

Over several years spent in Queensland, Charles Blackman was nurtured by a series of relationships and profound connections to place, and these inspired some of his most innovative and important works. During his first visit to Brisbane in 1948 Blackman experienced a period of intense personal discovery essential to the launch his career; he found…