Vale: Robert MacPherson

When Robert MacPherson AM died, on 12 November 2021, aged 84, Australia lost one of the most important artists of his generation. What made his contribution so remarkable was the way in which he translated the arcane languages and modes of contemporary art, particularly those of conceptualism and minimalism, into images and objects that formed…

Clouds of purple blooms, a quintessential image of Brisbane

Few works in our Collection have enjoyed as much popularity as Under the jacaranda by R (Richard) Godfrey Rivers. Painted in 1903, some twelve years after the British-born artist arrived in Queensland, the image depicts Rivers and his wife Selina sitting in the shade of a large jacaranda tree, at that time a landmark in Brisbane’s…

Experience Judy Watson’s ‘tow row’ in digital reality

QAGOMA’s immersive digital experience animates and illuminates the significance of tow row 2016, the bronze fishing net sculpture by leading Queensland artist Judy Watson on permanent display at the entrance to the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Watson was born in Mundubbera in south-east Queensland and the spirit of much of her work stems from…

Things the mind already knows

In Reinhardt Dammn: Things the mind already knows, Scott Redford appropriates the colour television test pattern, a universal standard used to balance contrast, saturation, sharpness and tone on television monitors. The image is emblematic of a period from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s, when a test pattern would appear on Australian television screens…

Go back in time to Brisbane’s Randall Art Gallery

Richard John Randall (1869-1906) was a Brisbane based artist known for his watercolours and paintings of Australian landscapes. After studying abroad from 1891 and exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he returned to Brisbane in 1899 and established his own residence and art studio at Cordelia Street in South Brisbane. He also…