Colourful names: Terrible function

The vast plume carefully drawn in Rainbow Herbicides 2018 (illustrated) by Thu Van Tran currently on display in the exhibition ‘Air’ at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, compiles details of volcanic eruptions, man-made explosions and photographs of clouds taken by the artist herself. The air here is thick and dangerous and marked…

Queensland Contemporary Art

The exhibition ‘Embodied Knowledge’ may have closed, however you can still delve into our video archive of Queensland contemporary art and artists from the far north, the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait Islands to Moreton Bay and surrounding Brisbane. DELVE DEEPER: Artists and artworks PUBLICATION: Available at the QAGOMA Store and online ‘Embodied Knowledge:…

30 000 butterflies & moths migrate to GOMA

Carlos Amorales’s Black Cloud 2007/2018 (illustrated) is a sublime and surreal gathering of 30 000 black paper butterflies and moths in sculptural formations. Alighting on the walls, ceiling, and light fittings at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) during the exhibition ‘Air’, the flight of insects is both wondrous for its unexpected arrival in the…

Concrete is an unlikely home to an ecosystem of plants

Jamie North develops his living sculptural forms around the contrast between nature and industry, growth and decay, progress and collapse, in Portal 2022 (illustrated), two circular concrete columns composed of cast concrete with aggregates of industrial remains open up to an emergent tree habitat, offering an unlikely home to a number of plant species indigenous…

Lloyd Rees: The process of observation & composition

Brisbane-born Lloyd Rees (1895–1988) is known for his fluid, light-saturated paintings of the Australian landscape in which the human figure and built environment harmonise with trees, cliffs and bodies of water. The artist is also remembered for his expert drafting skills honed over a lifetime of close observation and drawing, with a selection currently on…