The early 20th century saw the rise of new styles of photography worldwide, which influenced photography in Queensland. Encouraged by advances in film development and camera production, camera clubs flourished. Interest in artistic photography resulted in the formation of the Queensland Camera Club in Brisbane in 1923, with the opening of its first Photographic Salon…
In these intimate intergenerational portraits, Naomi Hobson shares an affectionate representation of Kaantju and Umpila boys, men and elders from her community. Adorned in vibrant flowers found in their hometown of Coen in far north Queensland, these ‘warriors without a weapon’ share the cultural practice of decorating their beards in preparation of ceremony and to…
Rose Simmonds’ photography has an important position in the Queensland Pictorialist photography movement. Emerging directly from the International Pictorialist movement which began in England and France at the end of the nineteenth century, local practitioners of this style continued to work in a manner which encouraged the acceptance of photography as a valid art-form. To…
Continue reading » “A nostalgia for Queensland’s pastoral past”
In 1928 a competition for the design of a Shrine of Remembrance (illustrated) in Brisbane was won by Sydney architects Buchanan and Cowper. Construction proceeded over the following two years with Anzac Square opening on Armistice Day in 1930. The Shrine honours the men and women of Queensland who served abroad and at home in…
Continue reading » “Go back in time to Max Dupain’s Anzac Square, Brisbane”
Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè’s masks are humorous, playful and political — constructed from recycled waste — he began making the mask series in Benin in the mid 1980s. Hazoumè’s ‘recycling’ refers to the inequitable history of exchange between Africa and Europe. Cultural artefacts such as masks were taken during the 20th-century artistic avant-gardes’ obsession with…
Continue reading » “Contemporary African masks create a subversive loop”
Australian photographer William Yang is a storyteller. Yang began telling the stories behind his photographs in the 1980s. What began as a slide night, showing transparencies of his work for friends became a highly developed storytelling style. Yang’s monologue performances have become a signature part of his practice. For the exhibition ‘William Yang: Seeing and…
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.