Apprehensive & vulnerable: ‘In Bed’ by Ron Mueck

We’re struck by the monumental scale and startling realism of Ron Mueck’s In bed 2005 (illustrated), then — almost voyeuristically — we are compelled to move closer to inspect the detailed texture of the figure’s hair, her translucent skin, and almost pulsing veins. Stepping back, her apprehensive facial expression and seemingly vulnerable state of being…

Getting ready for Romney’s tragic muse

Nearly three metres long and two across — and gilded entirely in gold leaf — the imposing frame for George Romney’s 1771 painting, Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse, Melpomene (illustrated) is a time capsule of framing fashions, repairs and interventions. QAGOMA is presently the only gallery in Australia with a framing studio where experts both restore and make…

15 mirrored spheres drift in GOMA

Long fascinated by the air, Argentinian-born, Berlin-based artist Tomás Saraceno has created a major new commission — a mesmerising suspended installation — Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms 2022 (illustrated). You can experience Saraceno’s constellation of 15 floating mirrored spheres in the central atrium at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane during…

Visit the Gallery Watermall & Sculpture Courtyard

The Queensland Art Gallery’s permanent home at South Brisbane was designed around the Brisbane River, and the spectacular Watermall within its cavernous interior runs parallel to the waterway threading its way through the ‘River City’. Watermall On entering the Queensland Art Gallery, the grand Watermall is one of the most striking exhibition spaces first viewed,…

Mavis Ngallametta’s ‘Wutan’ has personal significance

Wutan #2 2014 (illustrated) depicts a specific tract of land and its waterways in the Cape York region, Far North Queensland, leading to a site of significance to Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) — a sister work to Ngak-pungarichan (Clearwater) 2013 (illustrated). This large portrait-format landscape uses its height to chart a tract of land and water,…