In the early 1900s, motorcycle manufacturers were still experimenting with the best position for a passenger. At the time, designers were largely focused on placing the passenger behind the rider, using a trailer; or in front of the rider, using a forecar. While in a forecar, the passenger was not subjected to exhaust fumes or…
Continue reading » “Two’s company: 5 Motorcycles for carrying a passenger”
‘William Yang: Seeing and Being Seen’ spans Queensland-born photographer and performance artist William Yang’s five-decade career and is the first major survey of his work to be presented by an Australian state gallery. ‘Seeing and Being Seen’ refers to the artist’s view of the world through the camera lens. Yang captures people across all walks…
Design innovation has been closely associated with the motorcycle for most of its 150-year history. The earliest motorcycles, however, were not so much designed as built. Nonetheless, they embody characteristics that align with their countries of origin. Functionally, motorcycle designs drew influence from a mode of personal transport they superceded: horses. British motorcycle design quickly…
Continue reading » “The Crocker motorcycles: Built for speed”
On the occasion of World Sleep Day we take the opportunity to highlight this major work by Lewis Jarvis (LJ) Harvey — carved from Silky Oak with inset panels in Queensland Beech — the Bed of Peace was made for Elsie Harvey [Noble] (1898-1986), the eldest of Harvey’s four children in 1919. It is probably…
Continue reading » “O soothest Sleep comes easy in LJ Harvey’s ‘Bed of Peace’”
Known for his reflective and joyous depictions of Australia’s LGBTIQ+ scene in the late 1970s and 80s through to the present, Queensland-born, Sydney-based artist William Yang’s work is the subject of a major survey exhibition ‘Seeing and Being Seen’. This exhibition traces Yang’s career from documentary photography through to explorations of cultural and sexual identities…
Public collections in Queensland have few outstanding examples of the work of our early artists. Of the major works dating from the 19th century, the Panorama of Brisbane 1880 by JA (Joseph Augustine) Clarke (1840–90), Queensland‘s first professional artist and art teacher, is undoubtedly the best known and most significant.1 Visit the nearly 4–metre–long panorama…
Continue reading » “JA Clarke’s ‘grand picture’ of Brisbane”