2010-11 Report

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20 Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report 2010–11 Outcomes Outcomes Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report 2010–11 21
Exhibition curator Glenn
Cooke, Research Curator,
Queensland Heritage,
leading a tour of ‘Vida
Lahey: Colour and
Modernism’
Gallery visitors enjoying
'Joe Rootsey: Queensland
Aboriginal Painter 1918-63'
Installation veiw of ‘Lloyd
Rees: Life and Light’.
Photograph: Brad Wagner
Xstrata Coal Queensland Artists’
Gallery exhibitions
Gallery 14 | QAG
4HEå8STRATAå#OALå1UEENSLANDå!RTISTS å'ALLERYåISå
a program dedicated to featuring exhibitions of
Queensland artists. The three-year program began in
åWITHåTHEåSUPPORTåOFåTHEå'ALLERY SåLONG TIMEåPARTNERå
8STRATAå#OAL åANDåHASåBEENåAåVITALåADDITIONåTOåOURå
exhibition program, demonstrating the priority the Gallery
gives to collecting, representing and profiling Queensland
art and artists.
4HEåEXHIBITIONåPROGRAMåISåSUPPORTEDåBYåTHEå8STRATAå#OALå
Talking Queensland Art Lecture Tour (see p.67).
This year the Gallery showcased a variety of artists
through the exhibition program, lecture tour, associated
publications, online collateral and programs.
Joe Rootsey: Queensland Aboriginal Painter 1918–63
17 July – 3 October 2010
This retrospective exhibition celebrated the art of Joe
Alimindjin Rootsey, one of the first Indigenous people in
Queensland to be recognised as a contemporary artist.
!FTERå2OOTSEY SåWORKSåWEREåEXHIBITEDåATåTHEå#AIRNSå3HOWå
in 1957, the North Australian Monthly promoted him as
@4HEå3ECONDå.AMATJIRA åANDåTHEå$EPARTMENTåOFå.ATIVEå
Affairs invited him to attend Central Technical College
in Brisbane, in 1958. Later that year, the Department
EXHIBITEDå2OOTSEY SåWORKåATåTHEå2OYALå.ATIONALå%XHIBITIONå
and the Queensland Aboriginal Creations shop in George
Street, Brisbane. This exhibition demonstrated the
IMPORTANCEåOFå2OOTSEY SåWORKSåINå1UEENSLAND SåARTåANDå
cultural history.
The accompanying illustrated exhibition catalogue —
the first to be published on Rootsey — includes essays
by Bruce McLean and anthropologist Dr Diane Hafner,
WHICHåEXPLORE åRESPECTIVELY å2OOTSEY SåLIFEåASåAåSTOCKMANå
and his career as an artist, and the social and political
conditions prevailing at the time.
Vida Lahey: Colour and Modernism
16 October 2010 – 11 January 2011
/NEåOFå1UEENSLAND SåBEST LOVEDåARTISTS å6IDAå,AHEYå
(1882–1968) is recognised as much for her work
in promoting art and art education as for her own
PAINTINGS å,AHEY SåVIBRANTåmOWERåSTUDIESåWEREåHIGHLYå
VISIBLEåINå"RISBANE SåCONSERVATIVEåARTåENVIRONMENTåOFåTHEå
early twentieth century. Her handling of brilliant colour
was considered exceptional and her paintings were
exhibited in the southern states from the 1920s to wide
acclaim. She continued to produce floral studies to the
end of her career. This exhibition was drawn from the
'ALLERY SåOWNåEXCELLENTåHOLDINGSåOFåWORKåBYå,AHEYåANDå
supplemented by works on loan from local public and
private collections. The Gallery recorded over 140 000
visitors during the exhibition period.
,AHEY å#OLOURåANDå-ODERNISM å
INCLUDEDåDAILYåVOLUNTEER GUIDEDåTOURS åCURATOR SåTOURSå
with exhibition curator, Glenn Cooke, Research Curator,
Queensland Heritage, and special programs for hearing-
impaired visitors.
Lloyd Rees: Life and Light
12 March – 13 June 2011
@,LOYDå2EES å,IFEåANDå,IGHT åEXPLOREDåTHEå'ALLERY Så
holdings of Brisbane-born painter and draftsman
,LOYDå2EESå n åONEåOFå!USTRALIA SåMOSTå
recognised and awarded landscape painters.
It included a number of early drawings made in
Brisbane in the first decades of the twentieth
century, selected from works generously gifted by
Alan and Jan Rees, the son and daughter-in-law of
the artist.
Honouring the important connection Lloyd Rees had
with Queensland, especially in his early development
as a draftsman and artist, the exhibition explored
the range of his artistic achievements throughout his
long career.
,LOYDå2EES å%ARLYå"RISBANEå$RAWINGS was published to
complement the exhibition. It documents a number of
significant early drawings Rees made in Brisbane early in
his career.
Exhibitions and Collection displays are also profiled
in the Cultural tourism, Collection development and
Accessibility and education sections of this report. For
a full listing of all exhibitions and displays for 2010–11,
please see pages 97–100.