Passionate and rebellious, Helge John ‘Jon’ Molvig (1923–70) was a relentless artistic innovator, who, in the 1950s and 1960s, attained national recognition. Newcastle-born, Molvig moved to Brisbane in 1955 and dominated the city’s art scene until his death just before he turned 47. With great energy, he created figure studies, portraits and landscapes, making radical…
QAGOMA acknowledges the loss of greatly respected Brisbane artist, Madonna Staunton. Known principally for her delicate collages and small contemplative of works on paper, Madonna established her reputation during the 1970s and worked right up to late 2019 even in ailing health. Staunton’s indomitable and generous spirit had a remarkable capacity to change and…
‘Please traverse the space using only the rings’, William Forsythe requests as we encounter his installation of suspended gymnastic rings, The Fact of Matter 2009. To do so, we must lift ourselves into the air by stepping onto one ring, then another. Although the lower rings are hanging at a suitable height for our feet,…
Continue reading » “William Forsythe’s alternative to walking”
Be surrounded by sculptural ocean creatures created from ghost net, the result of a collaborative project between artists on the Torres Strait Island community of Erub (Darnley Island) for the Children’s Art Centre. Lynnette Griffiths talks about marine conservation, bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and making beautiful objects from repurposed materials. Ghost net art…
The Gallery’s summer blockbuster explores water in all its states and across the globe. ‘Water’ highlights this precious resource and aims to spark conversations on the critical challenges of climate change, access to water and ecological fragility. One of the major installations in the exhibition is Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s Riverbed 2014. Here, we delve…
Continue reading » “Outside in: Behind the scenes of ‘Riverbed’ by Olafur Eliasson”
Water is one of humanity’s common denominators. We are all made of it, we immerse ourselves in it and our lives depend upon it. These are among the weighty considerations that ‘Water’, our major summer exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), balances with a sense of deep inquiry, playfulness and engagement. The questions…