This cliff in Chalk Fall 2018 (illustrated) seems solid, like the massive wall of a fortress, however on closer inspection, we see the rough waves churning beneath, and realise the cliff-face is giving way, falling into the ocean. Tacita Dean’s monumental chalkboard drawing evokes the famous White Cliffs of Dover which are eroding evermore swiftly…
Continue reading » “Subject of chalkboard drawing also composed of chalk”
Like terrariums cradling prehistoric landscapes, the three vitrines of Dora Budor’s Origins I–III 2019 seem anchored in a time before plants, trees or life as we know it. Deposits of pigment and dust erupt from volcano mounds in a process resembling the early evolution of our atmosphere. Dora Budor ‘Origin II (Burning of the Houses)’ 2019 …
Nature Morte (Agriculture) and Nature Morte (Blackbird), from Australian photographic artist Michael Cook’s ‘Natures Mortes’ series, draw on visual strategies affiliated with the still‑life genre — particularly the memento mori, a visual reminder of the inevitability of death — to highlight the devastating impact of colonisation from an Indigenous point of view. Michael Cook ‘Nature…
Continue reading » “Photographic tableau highlights historical injustices”
The desire to ‘climb the ladder’ of the social and economic order is humorously questioned by Justene Williams in The Vertigoats 2021. Lurid department-store shelving and vivid mannequins create the mood of a hyped-up retail environment. Williams distorts the mannequins’ limbs to draw attention to the ridiculousness of the ideal body propagated by the fashion…
Deep water, Bobbin Head c.1942 (Illustrated) on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13) is a work that held special meaning for modernist Grace Cossington Smith, the artist captures the landscape at Bobbin Head, near her North Sydney home, in broad brushstrokes and iridescent colour. Grace…
Queensland ceramicist Jessie Gibson (1932—2021) was a fierce advocate for the promotion and understanding of craft artforms. Gibson’s gift to the Gallery, comprising some 48 artworks, collectively capture the energy and innovation of 29 Australian ceramicists and glass artists during the 1980s and 90s. ‘My concerns are the promotions of all crafts, especially quality ceramics,…
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