The Gallery recently acquired a fine piece of late-nineteenth-century, Queensland-made jewellery — the D Mackay and Co. Gold and topaz bangle c.1900 (illustrated). Its making and provenance builds on an earlier Queensland piece already in the Collection — the Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. Archer mourning brooch c.1860 (illustrated). Together, these beautiful objects tell the historic…
Continue reading » “Family jewels tell two Queensland stories”
During springtime, Brisbane is awash with colour — the lavender of the jacaranda mix with an array of red and yellow flowers. Spring is also when you can see the vermilion blooms of the Butea at its peak, due to its fiery appearance, it’s given the name ‘Flame of the Forest’. R (Richard) Godfrey Rivers…
There’s all sorts of ways to approach and engage with the contemporary art of our times. It can be helpful to start with an artwork’s physical form, its size, the materials from which it’s made, or even how the various elements relate to each other. Brisbane-born painter Robert MacPherson (1937–2021) was one of Australia’s most…
Continue reading » “Understanding the work of Robert MacPherson”
For Tracing inscriptions 2020/22, a purpose-built plotter printer is programmed by Robert Andrew to trace an undisclosed Yawuru text in Latin script, activating strings stretching over viewers’ heads that connect to the branches and rocks opposite. Without ink, the traced letters and words are left invisible and undisclosed to the viewer. The artist seeks to…
Continue reading » “Swinging branches & rocks build up a visible residue”
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was born by a small tidal creek around 1924 on the south side of Bentinck Island, of the South Wellesley Island Group in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Far North Queensland. Her Kayardild language name, Mirdidingkingathi, means ‘born at Mirdidingki’, her country on Bentinck Island, and Juwarnda means ‘dolphin’, her totem. Gabori…
Continue reading » “Sally Gabori’s ‘Makarrki’ is layered with memories of home”
In 2022 as we celebrate 40 years of the Queensland Art Gallery at South Bank, it is fitting to note that when the new building designed by Robin Gibson opened in 1982, it occurred in the same year as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vida Lahey1, described as ‘an indefatigable advocate for art…
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.