Queensland Gallery of Modern Art APT8

Recently I was in Brisbane for a few days for a conference. I didn't have a lot of time for sightseeing which was a shame as I hadn't visited Brisbane since sometime in the 90s. I was keen to visit the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art as I'd heard good things about it. The whole gallery is currently taken up with the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8). APT8 extends to the nearby Queensland Art Gallery- Brisbane has a great arts precinct in South Brisbane with art galleries, performance theatres and the Queensland Museum all very close- great for visitors.

The art starts outside.

The High/Perpetual Xmas, No Abstractions
Scott Redford 2008

The scale of the building is amazing.

And is matched by some of the artworks. This one is a site specific work developed for APT8. Not surprisingly, the artist here is also an architect. This artwork had sensors attached and would burst into sound as you wandered amongst it.

All we leave behind are the memories
Asim Waqif 2015

Thankfully the guide at the entrance had told me about this one, or I suspect I would have missed it. It is a whisper cloud suspended from the ceiling. There was a little room to one side where you could record your wish, and this then gets uploaded and played as a "rain of wishes". I like to think of my wish raining down on visitors even though I've long moved on.

Everyday Whispers
Lawrence English  2015

It's funny what you notice and you don't notice as an adult. We see what we expect to see. I saw this as three horses when I was in the gallery. It's only now, reading about this work that I see that it really isn't. An exploration of childhood toys from Myanmar.

Another Realm (Horses)
Min Thein Sung 2015

This one was the last of an extraordinary series of 4 paintings by a Thai artist.  Each quite different. This one was my favourite.

Tales of Navin 4
Navin Rawanchaikul 2013-15

 A lot of the artworks tackled some confronting subjects. This one from Cambodia.

Hell of Tuol Sleng
Leang Seckon 2014

 This is one of a number of figures filling a room.

Bearer
Francis Upritchard 2012

This next one is a life size installation of a rural school in Myanmar with young students starting on their education.

The sick classroom
Noe Lay 2013

 I don't think I've seen much experimental Aboriginal art before- it was really good. This artist used some unusual materials in interesting ways such as galvanised iron water tanks, black rubber conveyer belts.

Three Larrakitj (memorial poles)
Gunybi Ganambarr 2013-15

This next one was perhaps my favourite experience of the day. You had to remove your shoes, and duck under a very low ceiling to a room with sea grass matting, music playing and all four walls filled with kaleidoscopic vision. It made me think back to my sightly boozy visit to MONA in 2012 and wish that I had consumed as much bubbles as I had that night. Still it was fabulous even stone cold sober on a hot Brisbane afternoon. 

Ils vous regardent (They look at you)
Nicolas Molé 2015

I wasn't the only one captivated...

Mongolian zurag painting was a new one for me. Pretty cool. 

Soldiers who don't know themselves (detail)
Gerelkhu Ganbold 2013

And this, this was mesmerising. Clouds of detergent/foam slowly emerging from perspex pipes. See a fascinating short film about David Medalla and his Cloud Canyon series here.

Cloud Canyons No 25
David Medalla 1963/2015

Of course there are a few sculptures outside too. You can barely see the native water rat, the kuril, just in front of the elephant's eye, which is the hero of this piece apparently. 

The World Turns
Michael Parekowhai 2011-12

All of these artists were new to me. Indeed I was familiar with only one of the artists in the entire gallery, although modern asian and pacific art isn't my area of special interest. Still, it was an interesting hour or so very well spent. 

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