Courage and Beauty: Elementary forms

‘Courage and Beauty: The James C Sourris AM Collection’ presents heady themes and concepts: the illusion of perspective and the transcendent picture plane; the burdens of oppression; a growing plurality in society and the possibility of more complex identities; the potential for colour and materials to make symbolic allusions to place and to inspire emotional…

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…

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…

Site-specific artwork makes visible the ducted air we rely on

Connected lengths of duct punctuated by vents crisscross a room in the exhibition ‘Air’ currently at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane. Up close, it becomes clear the network is channelling air as the turbine ventilators spin and comes to life as a breathing system, wondrous for its unexpected industrial intrusion into the…

1000 elongated glass yams suggest toxic plume

Cloud Chamber 2020 (illustrated) by Yhonnie Scarce is based upon the form of a rising atomic cloud after a devastating nuclear blast. Currently on display at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane during the exhibition ‘Air’, the hand-blown yam shapes in glass hang in the air like inverted raindrops capturing the light. Whereas…