Modern Art

We didn't know about the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art but I'm glad we found it because I learnt a lot. 

The current exhibition is Asia Pacific Triennial. Before entering the building I thought I wouldn't like much of it because I wouldn't understand it, but as I was watching the first installation I suddenly realised I was looking it it from a different perspective. All those years of critically exclaiming "I don't understand it" or "What a load of rubbish" (there is still some stuff I don't understand though), and now I think "Yes I'm enjoying this" and "That's clever". And maybe that's it - it's not about understanding but enjoying.

Weaving

and Web making

Various aspects of Mumbai life captured on time lapse videos

'Kin' by Nadiah Bamadhaj consists of five beautifully graceful charcoal collage portraits of her family, in which each subject is depicted clothed in batik that includes a motif relating to their life experience and identity.

  

  

Up close the folds of material looked amazingly lifelike

These are pretty

This looks like painted planks of wood but I like it.

'Echo' by Le Thuy evokes a ruined house

The work began with the recovery of nine doors from a dismantled house in the historical town of Hội An, which the artist painted in red laquer and gold foiling, incorporating references to history, memento mori narratives and pan-Asian religions.

Alyen Leeachum Foning belongs to the Lepcha people of the Eastern Himalayas. Her installation is dedicated to her ancestors, and to the story of her people. The installation centres around the Muun, a traditional female shaman. Muuns are the medium between the spirit world, Mother Creator and humans. The headgear is created as a personal ceremonial regalia, channelling the song of the local Relli River and  honouring the cycles of life and death, and how we return to where we came from.

'Drifting Toward the Red Star' by Jagdish Moktan is an ongoing project through which he explores his family history from archives, photographs, socialist literature, communist ephemera and educational materials. His father migrated to the city as a young boy becoming a thangka painter, as did many young men, and was drawn to communism in the 1980s during a time of awareness among the oppressed. Moktan's work acknowledges his father's struggles.

Cranleigh Scool Library 2016

Charles Lim Yi Yong born 1973 Singapore. Lives and works in Singapore.

The picture is Cranleigh School Library 2016, courtesy of the artist.

In 1992, in his final year as a student at Cranleigh School in Surrey, Charles Lim stole a book from the school library. The book, titled 'Down The Wind: A Yachtsman's Anthology' is an autobiographical account by noted conservationist and sportsman Sir Peter Scott of the circumstances surrounding the invention of the trapeze. Scott claims to have introduced the device at the 1938 Prince of Wales Cup, and attributes his victory to its ingenuity. However there is widespread evidence that the dugang - a similar counterbalancing rope system developed in South East Asia - had been in use for generations before then, casting doubt on Scott's assertion that it was a British invention.

Lim still has the stolen paperback!

Eleng Luluan’s tapestry of Typhoon Koinu hitting Taiwan in 2023 is made entirely of recycled hessian sacks, fish nets, ropes and other debris.

'Blood, Flesh, Bone' by Chung Seoyoung references the basic materials that comprise human life.

Dear reader, I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the gallery.

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x 

Something Old Something Modern

My daughter and I visited the city library which we didn't have time for on a previous visit to the area. Travelling by ferry to the Southbank area.

I liked the look of this old boat moored on the river.

It's well equipped with satellite and solar panels. 

Google created this dynamic version

There are lots of bridges here, some pedestrian, some vehicles.

A short walk took us past this beautiful hand carved Nepalese Peace Pagoda.

The Pagoda was originally commissioned by the Association to preserve Asian culture on behalf of the Kingdom of Nepal, and to showcase Nepal's distinguised woodcarving heritage. It was installed at South Bank for Expo 88 and was so successful it became a coveted item, with several international bidders vying to keep it. It's still here thanks to generous donations from philanthropists Frank and Myra Pitt, contributions from Brisbane locals, the Australian Government and Brisbane City Council.

And in stark contrast the ultra modern library

is a beautiful piece of architecture.

And the interior is stunning

It has meeting rooms, quiet spaces for reference work, and lots of hub spaces for people to work with computers and the internet to creativity ideas and experimentation. There is also a very nice cafe and shop.

Although the Pagoda and Library are worlds apart in architectural styles, they both share a love of quiet learning and contemplation.

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Kangaroo Point

Few other suburbs in Brisbane can match Kangaroo Point for its views and natural beauty. Standing atop the ancient cliffs, the views show the city at its best, whether it's as the sun is rising, or as the city skyline lights up in the evening. 

One day last week we took the CityCat and started the river walk at the city end down to down to Joeys restaurant. 

This derelict house and land must be worth a fortune.

 

It has uninterrupted views of the city

We climbed lots of steps up to Joeys. It's 3 years since I did this walk and I could still climb the steps with only one stop half way! You can see the path below and the handrail. We had coffee and cake.

We've had a lot of rain, I've never experienced so much on previous visits, some years there hasn't been any at all. My first week was ok but the last week has been showers every day. But it has been warm. Some showers were quite welcome - like a fine cooling mist. 

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Mother's Day

In Australia Mother's Day is in May but we celebrated the UK one today. We started our day with breakfast at Redcliffe market. I had coffee and a croissant

The weather was glorious

Bluey gets everwhere

People enjoying the beachside pool

After a relaxing afternoon

My daughter made a gorgeous cream tea

   

It was all delicious, and there are scones left for tomorrow 😋

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Oh dear, the weather bureau clearly didn't receive my request for non stop sunshine!

Today is going to be non stop rain. We are hunkered down and about to play dobble. I usually do very well, but the last time we played I suffered a humiliating defeat, I only scored 1, daughter scored 13, S scored 5.

 ∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

The Ferry Cats

The ferry is my favourite mode of transport, its' so easy to get around.

Brisbane City operates regular catamaran services along the river.

The KittyCat is the cross-river service. 

The CityCat service operates daily between the University of Queensland St Lucia to Northshore Hamilton, which is about a 2 hour journey in total. The Express CityCat service operates during peak periods on weekdays, providing faster travel from selected terminals. Each Cat has a name.

And there are two new arrivals. The City Council were thrilled to welcome two CityDogs to the Ferry Network. Two of the Council’s CityCats, Gootcha and Kuluwin, have been brilliantly transformed into Bluey and Bingo.

Bluey is an Australian animated preschool television series about a beloved pup Bluey and his little sister Bingo. It has become hugely popular. We watched an episode, it is delightful. 

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Brisbane Art Gallery

We took the ferry into the city. After meandering around the shops and exploring the comprehensive street market, the plan was to visit the city library, followed by lunch then home.

However the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art is next door to the library so we popped in for a quick look and stayed for over an hour. We went into the library but didn't stay because my feet were aching and we were hungry. We will visit another day and start with the library which looked amazing.

The art gallery is pretty amazing too.

Portrait of James Davis

by Carl Magnus Oscar Fristrom

James 'Duramboi' Davis had a colourful history. He was sent to Australia from Scotland as a convict. In 1824 aged 15 or 16 he was sentenced to seven years transportation to New South Wales for the theft of a coin from a church collection. Five years later in Sydney he was subsequently convicted of robbery and sentenced to a further three years imprisonment at Moreton Bay. Davis escaped from the penal colony and lived with the Indigenous Badtjala people on Fraser Island. The Badtjala accepted him and gave him the name Duramboi. He was recaptured in 1842.

He later became a successful business man in South Brisbane, where he owned a crockery shop. He died a wealthy man in 1889.

The Bathers by Rupert Bunny

Comet (Dance Machines)

by Patrick Thaidy

Thaidy's 'dance machines' are articulated objects that are central to Torres Strait Island performances. Comet represents the drama and intensity of a comet that appears only once every several centuries.

Shark by Ricardo Idagi

His works are inspired by mask and headdress-making traditions of the Torres Strait Islands. This interpretation is almost a life size replica of a real Tiger Shark. It's made from flakes of turtle shell, feathers, saimi seeds and string.

Fighter and Bomber aircraft headdresses

White Dove Feeling the Universe by Brett Whiteley

The Spirit of the New Moon by Arthur Loureiro

I like this one

  

I think this is beautiful

Spirit of the Plains

The artist Sydney Long thought of the Australian landscape as a special, dreamlike place. The painting features the Brolga Crane - a wetland bird found in Northern Australia. They are known for their intricate dance, during which they toss pieces of grass into the air, leap into the sky, bob their heads, beat their wings, strut and bow even making a trumpeting sound.

   

Karla Dickens work is an ongoing interrogation of the legacies of colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy, and their effects on Aboriginal cultures and the natural world. The installation above confronts the breadth of environmental devastation across Australia - such as rising temperatures, exploitation of resources, drought, extinction, floods and coral bleaching.

   

You can just about see the crows at the top of the images. The waagan (crow in Wiradjuri) acts as a guardian and messenger throughout the installation. Dickens says "I believe my ancestors are visiting if the crows appear. The crows give me strength to fly above my shadows as I walk this life searching for connection and meaning".

Each piece of work is punctuated by her signature tongue-in-cheek text, puns, metaphor and black humour.

'Keeping It Together' depicts forest of glove poles bound together with raffia and twine and symbolises the tenuous feeling of trying to hold the world together as it falls apart.

Many Hong Kong residents live in high-rise buildings. Artist Yeung Tong Lung created this group of paintings by looking out the window of his studio and painting what he saw.

Woodcut print on canvas by Muhlis Lugis

        Betal-nut palm                     Banana               Temple tree, Frangipani                                                                                  my favourite Australian flower

'Paradisus Terestris' by Fiona Hall is a set of fifteen aluminium and tin sardine cans, each revealing a human erogenous zone or body-part. Sprouting above these are botanically correct representations of native flora, implying a collision between Culture and Nature. Each component of the work bears three titles: the local Aboriginal plant name specific to the language group indicated in parentheses, the Latin (botanical) name, and the common English name.

I couldn't photograph them all because there was too much reflection. 

And in a lot of art galleries I have visited there is always something that I just don't get

Untitled by Gunter Christmann

I'm not sure what title I would give it, maybe

Rectangle of grey paint

with a rectangle of black paint underneath

in a blue frame.

Really?

And finally 

The sentence on the screen was constantly changing, I only caught two - "social structure"  and "I am whispering"  I was puzzled. Art is definitely subjective!

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x