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donghee Koo
Static electricity of cat’s cradle
2007
Static electricity of cat’s cradle
takes its
title from the children’s string game. koo
draws on the wonder of the game with a
sly humour, transposing it into an adult
world of simulated intimacy, where a young,
pyjama-clad couple are suspended in a
web of rope and harnesses, converging and
separating at the whim of a third party.
koo’s work is distinct for its high-end
production values and techniques
generally associated with commercial film
production, lending the events and action
recorded in her videos a cinematic quality.
a significant work by an important young
artist, its acquisition broadens the scope of
the gallery’s collection of contemporary
korean art and builds on its strong holdings
of performance-based video works.
this work was acquired through the
John darnell bequest.
Donghee Koo
/ South Korea b.1974 /
Staticelectricityofcat’scradle
(still) 2007 / HD video: 16:9, 11:30 minutes, colour, stereo, ed. 5/5 /
Purchased 2011. John Darnell Bequest
nguyên Thái Tuãn
Room of the prince
2010
Four paintings by nguyên thái tuãn
were acquired for the collection and for
inclusion in ‘the 7th asia pacific triennial
of contemporary art’ (apt7) in 2012. three
works were purchased from the artist’s
‘black painting’ series, along with
Room
of the prince
2010, which references a
room in the summer palace of bao dai, the
last emperor of Vietnam. nguyên’s works
typically feature headless figures in sombre
surroundings, suggesting violence and loss
in the context of recent Vietnamese history.
nguyên’s portrayal of the headless figure
reveals an interest in the psychological
limits of the self and comments on the
invisibility of the individual voice in the
public realm and in a communist system
that values the collective.
Nguyên Thái Tuãn
/ Vietnam b.1965 /
Roomof theprince
2010 /
Oil on canvas / 130 x 150cm / Purchased 2011. Queensland Art
Gallery Foundation
Zhao dalu
Balcony #2-4
2007
three paintings of nudes from Zhao dalu’s
‘balcony’ series were purchased for the
collection in 2011. the painting of nudes
was considered a radical statement by the
early avant-garde in china, as it challenged
state-determined prescriptions for art, and
it is still a somewhat provocative subject.
a member of the important chinese avant-
garde ‘stars’ group of the late 1970s and
early 1980s, dalu completed the ‘balcony’
series while living in australia in 2007. raw
and confronting, the works mark a departure
from Zhao’s more refined early style, and
convey a mix of personal anxiety, cultural
dislocation and professional frustration from
which the artist attempts to free himself
using the medium of painting.
these works were acquired with funds
from carrillo gantner,
ao
, and Ziyin gantner
through and with the assistance of the
Queensland art gallery Foundation.
Zhao Dalu
/ China b.1953 /
Balcony#3
2007 / Oil on canvas / 100 x
80 cm / Purchased 2011 with funds from Carrillo Gantner,
ao
, and
Ziyin Gantner through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art
Gallery Foundation
