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This publication is our opportunity to
reflect on the highlights of 2011, and
to acknowledge our many benefactors,
partners and supporters who help make it
happen. In this bumper issue, we also look
back on the many wonderful programs,
resources and exhibitions we have delivered
since becoming a two-site institution.
The year began with the Collection-
based exhibition ‘21st Century: Art in the
First Decade’ — the highest attended
contemporary art exhibition in Australia —
and culminated with the Gallery of Modern
Art’s fifth-anniversary celebrations and the
opening of ‘Matisse: Drawing Life’.
At the beginning of the year we were
revelling in record daily attendances at
GOMA, averaging 4 800, and on a number
of days attracting over 10 000 visitors,
during the Collection-based exhibition ’21st
Century: Art in the First Decade’. However,
our revelry abruptly ended with the natural
disasters that unfolded across the south-
east and north Queensland.
Both QAG and GOMA were closed for five
weeks after the service areas and car
parks were inundated by floodwater. While
this was an extremely distressing time for
everyone, we witnessed incredible support
from the community and our supporters,
which bolstered our determination to make
this a standout year for art and culture
in Queensland.
The Gallery has developed an enviable
international reputation since the opening
of GOMA and we have continued to develop
opportunities for national and international
collaborations this year. Queensland-
exclusive exhibitions play an important
role in profiling Brisbane as a destination
for contemporary cultural destination, and
represent the Gallery’s ongoing commitment
to developing international exhibitions of the
highest quality for our audiences.
'Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams', was
a landmark exhibition of surrealist works
from the Musée national d'art moderne,
Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the exhibition,
design and associated programming were
exceptional. ‘Henri Cartier-Bresson: The
Man, The Image & The World’, presented in
collaboration with Magnum Photos, Paris,
and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation,
was extremely popular with a wide range
of audiences.
In September, we began a program of
exhibitions, acquisitions and events that
celebrated the fifth anniversary of the
opening of GOMA. Our major summer
exhibition ‘Matisse: Drawing Life’, presented
in collaboration with Art Exhibitions
Australia and the Bibliothèque nationale de
France, opened on the actual anniversary,
2 December, and in the few weeks it has been
open, it has been extremely well received.
The focus our Collection enjoyed at the
beginning of 2011 has also continued
throughout the year. ‘Land, Sea and Sky:
Contemporary Art of the Torres Strait
Islands’ was the largest exhibition of its kind
ever presented, and was part of the major
Cultural Centre collaboration The Torres
Strait Islands: A Celebration.
‘Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the
Social Fabric’ highlighted the Gallery’s
extensive holdings of fibre art from
Australia, Asia and the Pacific, while ‘Ten
Years of Contemporary Art: The James C
Sourris
am
Collection’ acknowledged the
generous support that private benefactor
James C Sourris,
am
, has provided to
the Gallery’s holdings of contemporary
Australian and international art.
Three important Collection displays —
‘The Old and the New: Pintupi Masterworks
from the Collection 1980s – 2000s’,
‘Desert Painting Now: New Works for the
Collection’ and ‘Across Country: Five Years
of Indigenous Australian Art from the
Collection’ — profiled the Gallery’s strong
holdings of Indigenous Australian works and
highlighted important new acquisitions.
The Xstrata Coal Queensland Artists’
Gallery featured exhibitions of work by
Vida Lahey, Lloyd Rees and Daphne Mayo,
as well as an Artist’s Choice exhibition
titled ‘Buoyancy’, curated by Queensland
photographer Marian Drew.
‘Art, Love and Life: Ethel Carrick and
E Phillips Fox’ presented a new perspective
on the couple’s artistic careers and told
their stories jointly for the first time in a
major exhibition.
This year we also celebrated our
relationship with contemporary artists and
designers. We have had a long and close
association with Japanese artist Yayoi
Kusama, and a number of her works in our
Collection are firm audience favourites.
‘Yayoi Kusama: Look Now, See Forever’
profiled Kusama’s work of the last two
years, and saw gallery spaces completely
transformed with her vibrant works and
installations. We have also shared our
A mEssAGE FROm PROFEssOR JOHn HAy,
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, CHAIR, QuEEnsLAnd
ART GALLERy BOARd FOR TRusTEEs + TOny ELLwOOd, dIRECTOR,
QuEEnsLAnd ART GALLERy
