My First Time

First published on the QAGOMA Blog page, 18 February 2016. I was sixteen and doing work experience at the Gold Coast Art Gallery. My supervisor had received a fax (!) about a brand new exhibition of Asian and Oceanic art being launched at the Queensland Art Gallery, and for some inexplicable reason I was put in charge of taking a group of volunteers up to see the show. God knows why they thought I was responsible enough to get 22 octogenarians there and back safely, but as one of the volunteers said to me on the day “at least you’re … Continue reading My First Time

Lyndal Hargrave at Edwina Corlette Gallery

If you haven’t dropped in to see the latest exhibition at Edwina Corlette Gallery, then you’re missing out on one of the most beautiful exhibitions to hang in Brisbane over the last few years.   Local artist Lyndal Hargrave has created an immense body of work for this show, every one a radiant, prismatic celebration of the inherent beauty of geometry. To discover more of Lyndal’s work, and read my essay on her show New Geometricks, visit Edwina Corlette Gallery here. Continue reading Lyndal Hargrave at Edwina Corlette Gallery

Ladies In Black

When I was about four years old, I lost my mother in the ‘Ladies Fashion’ section of McDonnell & East. A good deal shorter than the racks of clothing that surrounded me, I was completely disoriented and just about to enter full meltdown mode when a lovely lady with a perfect French roll found me and took me back to her counter. As the call went over the PA system that a mother was sought for the child now in women’s lingerie, she appeased me with banana lollies, and I watched as she served customers and nattered with her coworker. … Continue reading Ladies In Black

Profoundly Tested

“We are profoundly tested.” That’s how Christchurch Art Gallery director Jenny Harper described the situation she found herself in just one year after the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes that forced her gallery’s closure. In an article for Artlink, she wrote of the difficulty in seeing the gallery devoid of visitors, of the frustration of living with an uncertain future, and the reality of staff redundancies. She wasn’t to know then just how much greater the challenges were to get. Despite having already planned and cancelled three reopening events, Harper and her staff were still quietly confident of being up and running again … Continue reading Profoundly Tested

Julian Meagher’s Alone In The Sun

Late last year I was lucky enough to sit down with Archibald and Wynne Prize finalist Julian Meagher to discuss his new body of work for Edwina Corlette Gallery. In front of an audience of VIP clients, artists, collectors and curators, we discussed Julian’s childhood growing up in a large Sydney family, and the growing desire to understand his ancestors.       The show itself was a beautifully rendered portrait of a family and its tribulations, and incorporated both historical photos and his existing motifs of empty alcohol bottles and native Australian flora.  Here’s a little excerpt from the piece I … Continue reading Julian Meagher’s Alone In The Sun