40 years and counting UQ ART MUSEUM
First published in 2016 by The University of Queensland Art Museum on the occasion of the exhibition beyond the Tower UQ Art Museum – 40 years and counting UQ Art Museum, Brisbane: 9 July – 13 November 2016 © 2016 The University of Queensland, the artist and authors All images by The University of Queensland Art Museum unless indicated otherwise This publication is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced by any means or process without the prior written permission of the publisher. Every attempt has been made to locate the holders of copyright and reproduction rights of all material reproduced in this publication. The publishers would be grateful to hear from any reader with further information. Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. ISBN:
978-1-74272-162-0
Previous page: Aerial view of The University of Queensland St Lucia campus, 2013, with the Forgan Smith Tower (centre left) and the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre (centre right). Photo: Above Photography Pty Ltd
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40 years and counting UQ ART MUSEUM
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In memory of Warwick Reeder (1950–2016) the University Art Museum’s first Collection Officer
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…[T]he thought I would like to leave you with [is the] idea of the art gallery as a doorway. On the one side, for academics and students to venture beyond their own dimension, and, on the other side, for people not generally frequenting a university to come and find access to its historic treasury. Charles Blackman, from the speech he delivered at the official opening of the University Art Museum (now UQ Art Museum), 6 August 1976. Reproduced in Quadrant, September 1976, 59–60.
Genesis of a Gallery: The collection of the Australian National Gallery, 30 August – 12 September 1976; part of the exhibition was displayed in the foyer of Mayne Hall. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Contents
Foreword Alan Rix......................................................................... 9
1976–1995 Nancy Underhill............................................................ 13
1996–2007 Ross Searle................................................................. 37
2007–2010 Nick Mitzevich.............................................................. 53
2011– Campbell Gray............................................................. 71
Acknowledgements..................................................... 95
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this publication may include name/s and/or images of recently deceased persons.
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Visitors viewing Bob (1970) by Chuck Close (Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1975) in Genesis of a Gallery: The collection of the Australian National Gallery, 30 August – 12 September 1976. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Foreword
Since its formation in 1976, The University of Queensland Art Museum (known initially as the University Art Museum) has played an important role in the education of our students, as it is a rich resource for teaching and research in visual and material culture. University art museums – and the UQ Art Museum has been an exemplar in this respect – also contribute to larger community debates: they aim to inspire, to challenge, and even to unsettle. beyond the Tower: UQ Art Museum – 40 years and counting demonstrates what has been achieved. Our institution has been led by four innovative directors, had a history of exciting and ground-breaking exhibitions, active collection development, busy galleries and exhibition spaces, and has remained committed to being a constant presence in the vibrant Brisbane art scene. Consistent with the mission of the University, the UQ Art Museum has always sought to foster enquiry and education. This has only been possible because of vital ongoing support from the University leadership, staff and students, as well as the generosity of many alumni, the Alumni Friends of UQ, and members of the wider community. All have seen the benefits of a lively and engaged art museum, using the strong University Art Collection to advance community understanding and debate about Australian art.
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The Collection is now a major University asset. Carefully developed and guided by successive directors, it has focussed particularly on the contemporary (and especially Queensland) art of the period and consequently has important holdings of artworks by major artists, including early works. Ongoing philanthropy has added both artworks and acquisition funds to the Collection, and enriched its coverage and depth. The Forgan Smith Tower was the first home of the Art Museum, an intimate space that was host to innovative curatorial practice and exhibitions. That tradition has continued in its new location, the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre, which is certainly one of the finest arts venues in Queensland. UQ Art Museum serves an important role in Brisbane as a leading gallery, displaying its own Collection and presenting temporary and travelling exhibitions. The work of the UQ Art Museum today is directly integrated into several teaching programs, and it seeks to engage all parts of the University in its exhibitions and public programs. It is a tribute to its successive directors and the curatorial and support staff of the UQ Art Museum that it has served the University and the wider community so actively and creatively over four decades. We are delighted to honour this history with the exhibition beyond the Tower: UQ Art Museum – 40 years and counting.
Alan Rix Chair, UQ Art Museum Board
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The inaugural exhibition at the newly opened University Art Museum, August 1976. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Nancy Underhill inspecting artworks in preparation for the exhibition Robert MacPherson: A proposition to draw 1973–1978, April – 10 May 1993. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Nancy Underhill DIRECTOR 1976–1995 FOUNDATION HEAD OF THE FORMER DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND, 1973–1995
The final exhibition I curated as Director of the University Art Museum (UAM), following the university authorities’ decision to terminate my directorship in 1995, was entitled HAVE A LOOK. In preparing this essay, I re-read my foreword to that exhibition’s catalogue. It neatly summarises the aims and achievements of my directorship much better than cataloguing what I bought or the exhibitions of Queensland artists that toured nationally or those of international interest that were displayed in the gallery. I quote: HAVE A LOOK extends the UAM’s engagement with Queensland’s contemporary art community… [it] purposely rejects fashionable theoretical packaging and also ensured that each artist selected and in some cases installed their own works. … I am proud that many of that group received their introduction to the joys and challenges of membership in the art community through training which centred on the UAM. For example all essays in the HAVE A LOOK catalogue are by former students who worked in the UAM and most of whom already have careers in teaching or arts administration. Equally the organisational labour, including hanging, has been undertaken by current students, the majority of whom had never worked in a gallery. One trusts that future students will be offered equal opportunities – and in turn they will make their contributions to Queensland’s cultural life.1
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At the time, UQ had an arrangement in place that was unique in Australia whereby the Department of Art History and the UAM, though distinct, worked as a seamless entity for the benefit of students who wished to become involved in practical aspects of Art History. This working relationship was possible because, while the Department fell under the Professorial Board as did other academic centres, the UAM reported directly to the Vice-Chancellor. Before the UAM was formalised, the University held the Darnell Collection of Australian Art, which was largely derived through donations; in particular, that of James Duhig. The Collection was occasionally shown in the open second level of the Forgan Smith Tower. Professors Robert Cummings and Val Presley were instrumental to establishing the UAM as well as convincing the University of the need to offer Art History, and they arranged that I be appointed Director. In my foreword to HAVE A LOOK, I acknowledge the impact of both Duhig and Presley on my directorship: With HAVE A LOOK I celebrate over 25 years association with the UAM. During this period I have tired [sic tried] to maintain the aims of those like Dr. Duhig who founded the University’s Collection in order that Queensland could encounter contemporary Australian art and my mentor Professor Val Presley who was determined that this University would set standards for others by developing as a lively and provocative centre for academic and practical pursuit for the History of Art.2 At the beginning of my tenure, I reported to a committee composed of interested academics and some powerful collectors. Naturally, there were issues about what I had purchased and some of the visiting exhibitions, but the Vice-Chancellor, Zelman Cowen, kindly sent that committee into deep recess. The turning point came in the mid-1970s when the Vice-Chancellor set up the teaching of Art History under the Philosophy Department, which was located in the Agricultural Science Building. Then he offered the
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Warwick Reeder and Nancy Underhill viewing Family on the beach (1977) by Hilary Burns, exhibited in the final Darnell de Gruchy Art Prize, 1 June – 3 July 1977. This painting was acquired for the Collection. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Forgan Smith Tower to house the Department of Art History and the UAM. Unsurprisingly, I agreed. Once formally set up, the issue was how to run the Museum. The entire budget, if I remember correctly, started at $2000, but was quickly raised to the still modest amount of $5000. But we had lots of good will. The Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council was very generous with acquisition funding; artists such as Fred Williams donated works; and before the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) opened, James Mollison sent two future registrars, Warwick Reeder and David Andre, to train at the UAM. The problem over who would assist in producing research material for exhibitions was solved by using students enrolled in my Australian Art course. Significantly, this was the first full-year undergraduate course in Australian art in the country. Students wrote the catalogue entries for the two acquisition survey exhibitions I curated and had direct access to the Collection in the classroom. Those interested also worked with the NGA registrars and myself on touring exhibitions that went interstate. We did at least one a year. My policy was that Honours research and UAM exhibitions favour Queensland art. Why? Because the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) did not. Indeed, the reason that the Australia Council supported institutions such as the UAM, the Institute of Modern Art, the print workshop/collection at Griffith, and the QUT collection was to counter the ultra-conservative QAG. With varying degrees, all those institutions provided outlets and shared personnel with the artist-run centres that operated in town. There was a sense that somehow we were an art community. Brisbane was also fortunate in having Philip Bacon, Ray Hughes and Peter Bellas as major dealer galleries. I am certain that between the late 1970s and 1980s, despite its political crassness, Brisbane harboured what was probably the most fluid, dynamic art environment in Australia.
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Much of my students’ research on local art remains the groundwork for articulating a key element of Queensland culture. I for one am a beneficiary of that initial shared work between the Art History Department and the UAM. In 2016, I find myself preparing research on Sidney Nolan with a former student, Angela Goddard; working on several Queensland artbased exhibitions at the UQ Art Museum; and, on several occasions, mentoring gallery staff who work out of Queensland.
1. Nancy Underhill, Foreword to HAVE A LOOK (Brisbane: University Art Museum, 1985), 1. 2. Ibid.
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Gordon Shepherdson inspecting his paintings prior to the exhibition Gordon Shepherdson: A survey 1959–1977, 5 October – 6 November 1977. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Peasant paintings from Hu County, Shensi Province, China, 3 – 24 August 1977. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Media preview for the exhibition John Peter Russell: Australian Impressionist, 26 February – 19 March 1978. Exhibition curator Ann Galbally is on the far right. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Article on Weaver Hawkins Memorial Retrospective, 9 March – 4 April 1979, in University News, 9 May 1979, page 3. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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David Andre preparing artworks for the exhibition MacPherson, Shepherdson, Staunton, 29 June – 29 July 1979. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Acquisitions 1973–1983,  November 1983. This landmark exhibition was organised by a class of Art History students as part of their studies. Top: Students installing Swanboro II (1976) by Robert MacPherson; Bottom: Students installing Sidney Nolan paintings on slate. Clare Williamson is in the centre. Images courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Top: (left to right, standing) Michael Milburn, Arthur Frame, Tammy Morley, (unknown) and Nancy Underhill, (left to right, kneeling/sitting) Maureen Cook, Christine Atkins, Jeanette Gilfedder, Anthony Nasser and Deborah Hart (nÊe Purtill); Bottom: Daniel Thomas, Christine Atkins, Kay Bedford, and Maggie Bryan in front of Time by the sun 3 (1979) by Janet Dawson. Images courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Anthony Howell ‘pouring’ event, 8 May 1984, top of the Duhig building, above the library. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Mona Ryder: A survey, 11 September – 12 October 1984. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Richard Larter in front of Pat painting no. 1 (1983), in the exhibition Richard Larter: A survey 1985, 14 March – 29 April 1985. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Sandi Clarke placing items in the exhibition Dressed to kill 1935 to 1950: The impact of World War II on Queensland women’s dress, 17 April – 15 May 1986. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Above: Toni Robertson in her exhibition Toni Robertson: Sites of power, September – November 1986; Right: The stars disordered, an exhibition featuring John Hughes and Peter Kennedy, received significant funding. University News, 20 May 1986, cover. Images courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Artist Pamela Crawford (née Seeman) and curator Michele Helmrich viewing the exhibition Young Turks and Battle Lines: Barjai and Miya Studio, 15 September – 30 October 1988. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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Abigail Fitzgibbons and Miranda Wallace installing the exhibition Insights: Tony Tuckson and William Robinson, 14 March – 6 May 1994.
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Ross Searle, 24 April 1996.
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Ross Searle DIRECTOR 1996–2007
Like all graduates of The University of Queensland’s Art History program, I was made keenly aware of the important nexus between university collections and research-informed teaching. This strongly influenced my subsequent professional practice as a regional gallery curator and director, as I tried to make collections more accessible to communities by removing barriers to their use and by sharing them in new ways. My later directorship at the UQ Art Museum coincided with a growing national recognition of the role that Australia’s university art museums play in their host institutions and more broadly within Australian society. While many university collections remain hidden in out-of-the-way campuses, universities have begun to open up their real estate and are seeking a more dynamic role in their communities. The relationship between community and cultural activity is no more apparent than in the regional gallery sector, and I soon realised the paramount need to harness good will and to extend the reach and accessibility of the UQ Art Museum. My previous work experience meant I had a strong background in the management of facilities, collections and art museum processes. I recognised that the first task was to upgrade display and storage at both the Forgan Smith Tower and the University’s downtown venue, the Customs House Art Gallery. The superior facilities of the latter provided an opportunity to broaden the audience base of
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the UQ Art Museum and to generate signature public programs, such as the annual Philip Bacon Galleries Lecture, which later became the Mayne Centre Lecture. Recognising the role of patrons and developing a culture of benefaction saw the University Collection grow significantly, with the important donation of the Nat Yuen Collection of Chinese Antiquities (1995, 2005, 2006) and the Malcolm Enright Collection (1999), and the bequest of the Graeme Bennett Collection (2000). The location of the University Art Museum within the Forgan Smith Tower was seen as a significant barrier in developing the full potential of its programs and in supporting teaching and learning. By the early 2000s, the possibility of relocating to Mayne Hall became a reality when the then ViceChancellor Professor John Hay AC called for expressions of interest from a select group of Australian architects to develop a concept to reinvent the building to house the Art Museum. A generous donation from The Atlantic Philanthropies helped facilitate the adaptation. The remarkable and sensitive conversion won Wilson Architects a number of awards in 2005 and 2006, including the prestigious FDG Stanley Award for Public Buildings Architecture (2006) given by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. In its new premises, the UQ Art Museum was finally able to consolidate its extensive collections and activities under one roof. Furthermore, the venue provides enormous scope to develop parallel programming over three floors and to present a significant range of exhibitions, public programs and scholarly publications, as well as to support teaching and learning. A highlight during my time at the UQ Art Museum was co-curating the opening exhibition To look within: Self portraits in Australia. Co-curated in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and the then Director, Andrew Sayers, it was the first comprehensive survey of self portraits in Australia from the colonial period to the present. It was also the first in a series of exhibitions at the UQ Art Museum that traced shifting conceptions
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of selfhood and representation, and that would become the basis of a collection to be established over time. This focus collection launched a new strategic identity for the UQ Art Museum and was coupled with a biennial self-portrait prize. Therefore, the UQ Art Museum has evolved from what was initially a hidden resource to a major museum that provides broad access for research, teaching and learning. Certainly, UQ can be proud that it has facilitated this dynamic shift and created such a remarkable visual arts facility. The challenge for the future will be to maintain this level of activity and to continue its focus as a centre for learning. My experience of overseeing the UQ Art Museum in one of the most significant phases of its history by managing its relocation to a purpose-designed venue could not have been possible without significant support from colleagues within the University, especially the professional staff who I worked with over the 11 years of my term as Director.
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Installation view of a collection display, 1996. Top: Ken Whisson Ship and flag (1976–1977), William Robinson Pee Wee landscape (1985) and Mike Parr Eagle house (1986); Bottom: Robert Rooney The way to the stars (1983), Sydney Ball Boswell Field (1984), Rosalie Gascoigne Daffodils (1986) and Denise Green Can never really come together (1979).
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Curator David Pestorius in front of Jenny Watson’s Yellow painting: John (1974), a portrait of artist John Nixon, held in the Monash University Collection, in the exhibition MONOCHROMES; held over three venues, 7 December 2000 – 24 February 2001.
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Mike Parr at his exhibition Latemouth: Mike Parr – Works on paper 1987–2003, 18 July – 30 August 2003.
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Mayne Hall, originally designed by Robin Gibson as the University’s graduation hall, was repurposed by Hamilton Wilson of Wilson Architects to accommodate the UQ Art Museum, which opened in the renamed James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre on 15 April 2004. Photo: Chris Stacey
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Above: To look within: Self portraits in Australia, 15 April – 20 June 2004, featuring Reincarnation – Mao, Buddha & I version II (2003) by Xiao Xian Liu (left) and Self portrait: Suddenly back to 1900 (2000) by Jiawei Shen (right); Right: Ross Searle with alumnus Dr Natalis (Nat) Yuen, 2004. The Nat Yuen Collection of Chinese Antiquities was donated to the University over an 11-year period, and is displayed on a semi-permanent basis in the lower-level gallery.
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The opening of Defending the North: Queensland in the Pacific war, 13 August – 13 November 2005. Pictured from left: Betty Churcher AO, Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay AC, Professor Peter Spearitt (co-curator), Ross Searle, Max Angus (artist) and Michele Helmrich (co-curator). Photo: Kaylene Biggs
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In the exhibition Judy Watson: Selected works 1990–2005, 26 November 2005 – 5 February 2006. In the background is the Forgan Smith Tower. Photo: Carl Warner
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Exhibition curator Sally Butler leading a floortalk in the exhibition sensing the surface: carl warner images 1995–2005, 12 May – 23 July 2006. Photo: Chris Stacey
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A media preview for Our Way: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Lockhart River, 5 May – 1 July 2007. Pictured (from left) are artists Silas Hobson, Fiona Omeenyo, Adrian King, Samantha Hobson, Rosella Namok, and curator Sally Butler. Photo: Chris Stacey
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Nick Mitzevich speaking at the opening of the National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize 2009. Photo: David Sproule
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Nick Mitzevich DIRECTOR 2007–2010
The University of Queensland Art Museum is a national treasure: an elegant building with a focussed collection. I’d like to think that throughout my term as Director, we achieved an invigorating program that reached out to the campus community and beyond to wider Queensland and national audiences. The UQ Art Museum’s charter, supported by the visionary Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay AC, enabled the development of a dynamic exhibition program and an ambitious collection strategy that, in turn, strengthened the careers of many Australian artists. Furthermore, Hay’s support saw an increase in staff resources and professionalism, which led to a stronger national profile. Personally, it was extremely gratifying to support this period of unprecedented staff development and collection growth. When I arrived at the UQ Art Museum, having formerly worked as the Director of the Newcastle Region Art Gallery in New South Wales, I found a university ready to embrace innovation in audience engagement. The appointment of Vice-Chancellor Paul Greenfield during my tenure further advanced the vision for the UQ Art Museum. As Director, I advocated for the University to pursue and collect contemporary art, thereby continuing the legacy established by earlier directors such as Nancy Underhill. It was important to ensure the relevance of the museum by collecting the work of practicing artists, including those living in Queensland, who were negotiating advances in technology and the dominant issues of the day.
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The University’s commitment to a collection of self portraits was extended in 2007 with the UQ National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize, instigated by ViceChancellor Hay and my immediate predecessor, Ross Searle. Ben Quilty was awarded the inaugural prize in 2007, with the winning painting entering the University’s Collection as a gift of the Margaret Hannah Olley Foundation. The Prize thereafter became biennial and acquisitive, developing a reputation for expanding the genre of self-portraiture and enhancing the University’s Collection in the process. During my time at the UQ Art Museum, the exhibition program focussed on Australian artists whose profiles were growing and who could potentially reach the University’s young student population. Highlights included survey exhibitions of the work of Ben Quilty, Rosemary Laing and Fiona Foley, with the latter developed in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney. We exhibited Ricky Swallow’s watercolours and Shaun Gladwell’s videos and photographs. An ambitious group exhibition curated by Alison Kubler, neo goth: back in black, took over the entire museum; Nell’s smiling tombstone sculpture from this exhibition titled Happy ending (2006) still graces the Art Museum’s entrance. Other memorable experiences include the development of the exhibition AES+F: THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW! that followed my visit to Moscow to meet with this artist collective. Their spectacular video works and panoramic photographs were advertised in large images that ran along the glass façade of the museum. Also memorable were the preparations for the exhibition Before Time Today: Reinventing Tradition in Aurukun Aboriginal Art, including travelling to Aurukun with the curator Dr Sally Butler, borrowing historic pieces from the UQ Anthropology Museum, and acquiring an important group of contemporary Aurukun carvings and paintings for the Collection. Proving immensely popular, the 2009 touring exhibition Margaret Olley: Life’s journey focussed on the artist’s lesserknown pen, ink and watercolour sketches of her travels and the cities in which she had lived. The exhibition revelled in a new way of seeing this important Australian artist.
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While exhibitions and publications became the public face of our aspirations, a range of associated programs and education resources provided forums for more direct engagement. Interpretive guides developed to support the exhibitions continue to be used by educators and students today. These varied forms of engagement helped to humanise the campus. This period also saw an unprecedented focus on the visibility of art across UQ’s campuses, including major works installed in new buildings. During my tenure, many significant works of art were received as gifts. This reflects the relationships that UQ Art Museum has developed with long-term and new donors, including the artists themselves. Works acquired from 2007 onwards were featured in the NEW exhibitions and publications. In particular, donors gave generously to commemorate the University’s Centenary in 2010. Two exhibitions, 100 Years: Highlights of The University of Queensland Art Collection and The Behan Legacy: The Stuartholme-Behan Collection of Australian Art, were presented in honour of the University’s Centenary. The latter was curated by Bettina MacAulay and Desmond MacAulay, and their scholarly publication that accompanied it paid tribute to this important collection that has been on long-term loan to the University since the opening of the University Art Museum in 1976. The support and friendship of artists, industry peers and academics during my time at the UQ Art Museum proved both instrumental and enduring, and I thank them here.
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Ben Quilty with his painting Self portrait dead (Over the Hills and Far Away) (2007), winner of the inaugural National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize, 20 October 2007 – 10 February 2008. Photo: Stewart Gould
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Installation view of neo goth: back in black, 25 July – 21 September 2008. In the foreground is Sharon Goodwin’s Afterworld (2007). Photo: Stewart Gould
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Peter Hennessey’s sculpture My Humvee (Inversion therapy) (2008) was on display in the UQ Art Museum foyer 2008–2011. Photo: David Sproule
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Margaret Olley: Life’s journey, 6 February – 19 April 2009. Top: Margaret Olley AC and Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO at the opening of the exhibition; Bottom: Nick Mitzevich leading a floortalk for the Lyceum Club. Photo: Lyle Radford (top)
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BEN QUILTY LIVE!, 8 May – 19 July 2009. Above: Ben Quilty in the process of spray-painting onto the Museum wall the embellishments for Jesus Rorschach (2008), with Brent Wilson operating the scissor lift; Right: Guests at the opening night. Photo: David Sproule
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Fiona Foley: Forbidden, 19 February – 2 May 2010. The ‘corn room’ was an integral part of the exhibition, where audience members were invited to take off their shoes and walk through corn kernels to view the photographic series Wild times call (2001). Photo: Carl Warner
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Brook Andrew’s Jumping Castle War Memorial (2010) was on display on the lawn of the UQ Art Museum 17 September – 3 October 2010. Photo: Carl Warner
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Before Time Today: Reinventing Tradition in Aurukun Aboriginal Art, 11 September – 28 November 2010. Top: Aurukun dancers performing on the lawn in front of the UQ Art Museum, as part of the opening ceremony; Bottom: Dancers in the exhibition. Photos: David Sproule
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Ghost net weaving workshop for school students, led by Mavis Ngallametta (top right).
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Campbell Gray, 7 March 2011. Photo: Jeremy Patten
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Campbell Gray DIRECTOR 2011 –
When I assumed the position of Director at The University of Queensland Art Museum in March 2011, I inherited a dynamic institution with a national reputation for presenting strong and vibrant exhibitions as well as a highly skilled team of committed staff. The legacies of my predecessors were clearly visible: Nancy’s courageous curatorial decisions were evident in the UQ Art Collection’s emphasis on contemporary Queensland art, and her efforts to engage Art History students in the Museum’s activities were equally clear. Ross’s leadership was seen in the relocation of the Art Museum system and Collection to the repurposed James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre; in the parallel development of self portraiture as a collecting focus and the establishment of the National Self-Portrait Prize; as well as in increased engagement through public programs and improved documentation processes. Finally, Nick’s advancement of the exhibition program to become more socially stimulating, geographically farreaching, and engaging of audiences was tangible. Undoubtedly, each one of these creative leaders, building upon the foundations laid before them, played an enormous part in shaping the UQ Art Museum to become one of Australia’s leading university art museums and one to which others look for benchmarking. I was determined to build on these advances. Having just spent 14 years in the US focussing on an American collection and the unique conditions
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of university art museums there, I was aware of my lack of ‘on-theground’ local knowledge. So much had happened in Australia while I was away. I knew that I had to turn to curators and educators, and in fact, staff across the institution for this knowledge, as it would affect both the Collection and exhibition development. Therefore, my leadership had to be based in collaborative practices in which my staff’s knowledge and skills were elevated within a framework that was guided by principles that distinguish university art museums from other art institutions. From my previous work experience, I had learned some fundamental principles around museums: –– At the museum’s core is education. Each work of art and each exhibition is produced upon the basic belief that people will change as a consequence of viewing them. Indeed, art museums exist primarily because of this aspiration and its realisation. –– The curatorial enterprise, while led by a museum’s special discipline (in our case, art history and theory), is interdisciplinary, encompassing education and design. For the art museum’s program and collection to have the effect upon the viewer we desire them to have, these disciplines need to work in tandem to produce and improve its program and collection. –– The special role of the university art museum is located in the nature of its program and its collection, and the unique opportunities they provide for audience education and engagement. Here we can create focussed and challenging experiences with art while simultaneously, in collaboration with academics and students, analyse, critique and progress the museum profession. Situated within the academy, every aspect of the art museum is educational. Each element within the art museum process demonstrates its highly integrated and socially influential voice – from the acquisition
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of works of art to exhibition design and production, to conservation and storage processes, to marketing and fundraising, to business management, to vision-building and leadership. While the UQ Art Museum possessed excellent curatorial, design, administrative and collection management capacity when I began in 2011, it lacked an educational philosophy that would drive its relationship with its host academy. At the same time, I was concerned that the UQ Art Museum was too dependent upon university resources for its operation and development. It had regularly received substantial grants from the few existing governmental and private funding agencies to support its program, but these were sought for on a case-by-case basis and were always vulnerable to shifting ideologies, as evidenced this past year with changing State and Federal Government funding priorities. With a change in University leadership that brought about a process of consolidating budgetary structures, we were authorised to convert some existing contract and casual positions into permanent ones and to appoint an advancement manager and an educator. All of these changes have been vital to our progress in the last few years. Under the leadership of our Advancement Manager, key relationships with influential and generous friends are developing and with them have come some major leaps forward in both program and collection. Built entirely with philanthropic funds, the Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room is now enabling students and academics across the University to interrogate the UQ Art Collection from the widest possible range of disciplinary perspectives. From the sciences to law to engineering and linguistics, the Collection is stimulating discourse and challenging assumptions. With an educational philosophy coming alive, almost every exhibition and educational program is developed in collaboration with an academic
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whose discipline is relevant to the project. At the same time, programs are beginning to be devised from the discourses of disciplines, and the engagement in highly stimulating interdisciplinary discussions, activities and symposia is exciting to watch. That the UQ Art Museum is becoming an increasingly important contributor to academic life across the campus is obvious: staff and students from various disciplines are engaging with its programs in highly relevant and valuable ways; students whose study aligns with the Art Museum’s disciplines are receiving valuable professional experience and, upon graduation, are winning important roles in the profession; the broader external community is increasingly engaged in the focussed and challenging programs; and the UQ Art Museum is one of the primary centres of the University’s external engagement. While there is still much to do along these paths, the future is very bright. We work closely with our Board and the University leadership to ensure that our work makes the most valuable contribution to the University community. I am heartened to see that we are also building value and influence in external communities at the same time. I believe that visitors from both communities will see the leadership of my predecessors and our increasing focus on education and audience engagement in the exhibition that this publication accompanies, beyond the Tower: UQ Art Museum – 40 years and counting. I celebrate with you the past 40 years of remarkable achievement and look forward to the future with excitement.
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Top: Panel discussion prior to the opening of Return to Sender, 16 June – 26 August 2012. Speaking are Professor Ross Gibson (exhibition opener), Michele Helmrich (curator) and artists John Gillies and Robyn Stacey; Bottom: Rosemary Laing taking a photo of fellow artist Robyn Stacey at the opening of Return to Sender. Photos: David Sproule
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If pain persists: Linde Ivimey sculpture 2001–2012, 3 November 2012 – 24 March 2013. Photo: Carl Warner
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Left: Ten Years of Things children’s workshop, 16 January 2013; Above: Ten Years of Things, 7 December 2012 – 7 April 2013. Photo: Sam Scoufos
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The University of Queensland National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize 2013, 19 October 2013 – 16 February 2014. Photo: Carl Warner
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Artists Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro assembling Future Remnant (2011), now in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, in preparation of Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, 6 April – 28 July 2013, an exhibition organised by Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney.
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Right: Artist Danie Mellor and curator Maudie Palmer AO leading a floortalk prior to the opening of Danie Mellor: Exotic Lies Sacred Ties, 18 January – 27 April 2014; Following pages: Curator Nancy Underhill leading a floortalk prior to the opening of Remembering Brian and Marjorie Johnstone’s Galleries, 31 May – 17 August 2014. Photos: Sam Scoufos
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Peter Hennessey: Making it real, 14 March – 12 July 2015. Photo: Kaylene Biggs
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Light Play: Ideas, Optics, Atmosphere, 15 August – 15 November 2015. UQ Physics student Troy Cobb (left) and Dr Margaret Wegener (right) viewing the holographic artwork Hyperobject: Homeland (2013) by Paula Dawson. Photo: Dionne Pettingil
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We who love: The Nolan slates, 21 April – 24 July 2016. Photo: Carl Warner
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Students Emma Szczotko, Michaela Bear, Nicholas Smith, Prudence McComish, Rebecca Johnston, and Sarah Bradley using the Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room.
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When you have the chance to examine an artwork directly, you can discover so much more about how it’s made, details that are not easily reproduced, and most importantly, gain a sense of what the artist is trying to convey. Alice-Anne Psaltis, Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Art History It is our goal to make the visual arts part of student learning at UQ. In March 2015, the UQ Art Museum opened the Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room. Fully funded by a generous community of donors, the purpose-built space provides students, researchers, and members of the public with an opportunity to view artworks from the UQ Art Collection on request. The Collection Study Room is increasing access, fostering scholarship, and facilitating a tailored educational experience.
Curator Samantha Littley with students Michaela Bear and Sarah Bradley in the Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room.
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Top: Errol (Barney) and Joan Joyce viewing the newly opened Mayne Hall in 1973. The Joyces donated funds to commission the coloured-glass windows by Nevil Matthews; Bottom: External view of Nevil Matthews’s windows, 1973. Images courtesy of The University of Queensland Archives.
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The distinctive windows that grace the façade of the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre are the enduring legacy of respected Queensland artist Nevil Matthews (1930–2013). They were installed in 1972 when the graduation hall, known then as Mayne Hall, was being built. Speaking about the windows in 1973, Matthews explained, ‘The thickness, broken surface, and cut edge of dalle-de-verre [technique] gives the glass a rich translucence not found in traditional stained glass’, and described them as ‘A movement in refracted light.’ The funds for the windows were donated by Errol (Barney) Joyce and his wife Joan, of Eidsvold Station from the Burnett district of Queensland.
Artist Nevil Matthews signing his windows in 2004, 32 years after they were installed. Photo: Chris Stacey
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Nell’s sculpture Happy ending 2006, installed outside the UQ Art Museum. Photo: Carl Warner
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Acknowledgements The UQ Art Museum thanks all those who have, over the history of the institution and its previous incarnations, contributed to the significant cultural resource it is today. Our thanks go to the University’s leadership, staff, students, donors, artists and others who have supported us over the years. In particular, the generosity of benefactors who have given artworks from their private collections and donated funds to extend our reach is acknowledged. We express thanks to those who have assisted with this publication, including the previous Directors Dr Nancy Underhill, Ross Searle, and Nick Mitzevich; Bruce Ibsen, The University of Queensland Archives; Geoffrey Burmester, Stacey King, Craig Oddy and Suzanne Parker, Office of Marketing and Communications; past and present students Carmen Armstrong, Isabella Baker, Lauren Bovey, April Euler, Bec Johnson, Mark Kleine, Julia Laws, Emily Poore, Alice-Anne Psaltis, Molly Shields, and Ethan Yong, and those who have assisted us to identify individuals featured in the photographs reproduced here.
THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND ART MUSEUM PERSONNEL: Dr Campbell Gray, Director Holly Arden, Senior Education Manager Nick Ashby, Museum Preparator Isabella Baker, Curatorial Assistant Stephanie Baldwin, Advancement Manager Gordon Craig, Project Manager Christian Flynn, Registration Technician Michele Helmrich, Associate Director (Curatorial) Kath Kerswell, Senior Registrar Samantha Littley, Curator Matthew Malone, Registration Officer Sebastian Moody, Digital Communications Officer Melanie Moore, Executive Assistant/Finance and Administration Officer Emily Poore, Curatorial Assistant Beth Porter, Finance and Administration Coordinator Mariko Post, Visitor Services Officer Alice-Anne Psaltis, Public Programs Officer Brent Wilson, Production Manager
THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND ART MUSEUM BOARD:
Louise Doyle, Assistant Director-General, Access and Communication, National Archives Professor Tim Dunne, Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dr Campbell Gray, Director, UQ Art Museum (ex officio) Professor Jason Jacobs, Head, School of Communication and Arts Patricia Danver, Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Advancement (Acting) Professor Alan Rix, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Chairperson) Winthrop Professor Ted Snell, Director, Cultural Precinct, University of Western Australia Project Manager: Gordon Craig Catalogue design: Caro Toledo Editor: Evie Franzidis Printed by: Harding Colour, Brisbane
UQ Art Museum The James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre The University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland 4072 Australia www.artmuseum.uq.edu.au
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