Annual Report 2016-17

06 Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report 2016–17

CHAIR'S OVERVIEW

Professor Ian O’Connor

Chair, Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees

On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present the

Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report

2016–17.

This report details the achievements of the

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (the Gallery,

or QAGOMA) over the past 12 months against the Board's

strategic plan, and demonstrates how the Gallery continues

to engage people with art and artists through memorable

and transformative experiences.

In 2016–17, the Gallery achieved its highest ever attendance,

with 1.73 million onsite visits. This outstanding result came

in the first year of the Queensland Government’s reinstated

funding for blockbuster and major exhibitions, and delivers on

the Board’s commitment to grow the number of onsite visits.

A further 300 000 visits were recorded at exhibitions toured

to venues in regional Queensland, interstate and overseas,

bringing the combined onsite and touring total to more than

two million visits — an exceptional achievement, and well

above the target of 1.3 million.

GOMA Turns 10, held from December 2016 to April 2017,

was a highlight of the year. Encompassing exhibitions, public

engagement programs, artwork commissions and acquisitions,

the anniversary celebrations were a significant driver of the

high number of visits achieved this year. The centrepiece of

the program was the exhibition ‘Sugar Spin: you, me, art and

everything’, which showcased the Gallery’s contemporary

collections and drew an extraordinary response from

audiences, with more than 628 000 visits. Other exhibitions

included ‘A World View: The Tim Fairfax Gift’ (now preparing to

tour regional Queensland in 2017–18) and ‘Lucent: Aboriginal

and Pacific works from the Collection’. In the Children’s Art

Centre, Icelandic-born artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir (whose

Nervescape V

2016 installation was a feature of ‘Sugar Spin’)

presented ‘Mirror Mirror’, her interactive exhibition for young

people. Fifteen GOMA Turns 10 Ambassadors championed

the program in the community to great effect; they included

prominent Queensland artists, designers, filmmakers,

musicians and writers. Several of the ambassadors were

actively involved in the GOMA Turns 10 all-ages Summer

Festival, which presented five days of artist workshops, tours,

talks, films and performances to more than 52 000 people.

In recognition of the significance of Indigenous Australian

culture to GOMA throughout its first ten years, the Gallery

undertook the Queensland Indigenous Artist Public Art

Commission. Judy Watson’s bronze sculpture,

tow row

2016,

was commissioned with support from the Queensland

Government, the Neilson Foundation, and Cathryn

Mittelheuser

and unveiled by The Honourable Annastacia

Palaszczuk

MP,

Premier of Queensland and Minister for the

Arts, on 2 December 2016. Inspired by the traditional woven

fishing nets used by Aboriginal communities, some of whom

used the nets on the nearby Brisbane River, the sculpture

is described by Watson as ‘a metaphor for the resilience of

Aboriginal people who have held onto the importance of land,

culture and family through adversity and deprivation’.

Several major works were gifted to the Gallery to mark

GOMA’s tenth anniversary.

Sleeping bride

1957–58 by

Australian artist Arthur Boyd was a gift of Paul Taylor

in memory of Eric and Marion Taylor; immersive light

work

Crossing

2016 by UK/US artist Anthony McCall was

commissioned with support from QAGOMA Foundation

President Tim Fairfax

; and

HEARD

2012 by American artist

Nick Cave was acquired with the support of the Josephine

Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation.

At the time of writing, GOMA’s current blockbuster,

‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’, has opened to

overwhelmingly positive popular and critical reception. An

exclusive for Queensland and the largest Marvel exhibition

to be staged in an art museum, the show is attracting new

audiences to QAGOMA. The exhibition links to the work of the

Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque in presenting contemporary

culture from the dual platforms of visual art and the moving

image. I look forward to reporting the exhibition’s outcomes in

next year’s annual report.

Other program highlights included the major exhibition

‘No. 1 Neighbour: Art in Papua New Guinea 1966–2016’ at

QAG, which built on cross-cultural relationships established

through the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

‘O’Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism’

continued the strong presence of women artists during

the year, following a solo show at GOMA by American

photographer Cindy Sherman and a retrospective at QAG of

senior Kaiadilt artist Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori

from Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Total funds generated by the QAGOMA Foundation reached

a record $13.78 million in 2016–17, and the outstanding

contributions of major donors were acknowledged with the

naming of the Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries at QAG;

the Marica Sourris and James C. Sourris

Galleries at GOMA;

and the Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery at GOMA.

At the Foundation annual dinner in October, the 2016 Gallery

Medal was awarded to Foundation member Pamela Barnett,

recognised for her long-term support for the Gallery,

including 35 years of dedicated service as a volunteer guide.

Significant donations and gifts were received this year from

leading benefactors, including Paul and Susan Taylor;

Tim Fairfax

; and Philip Bacon

. The Gallery has also

received outstanding support this year from corporate