The work of leading Queensland photographers will be featured in the first UQ Art Museum exhibition of 2010.
Opening tomorrow, The state we’re in: Contemporary Queensland photography brings together diverse perspectives from a dozen local artists.
“The exhibition showcases 80 works by artists whose primary medium is photography and whose works bring something new to this medium,” museum Director Nick Mitzivich said.
Represented in the exhibition are Paul Adair, Camilla Birkeland, Eric Bridgeman, Ray Cook, Marian Drew, Shane Fitzgerald, Joachim Froese, Mari Hirata, Peter Milne, Maurice Ortega, Martin Smith and Carl Warner.
The show was inspired by several photographic works which have recently been acquired for the University’s Art Collection.
Exhibition curator Gordon Craig said photography was an evolving art form that always captured people’s interest.
“Photography is one medium that continues to enjoy great popularity and currency – just think of how people use their mobile phone as a camera and then access and share images in digital form,” he said.
“The state we’re in: Contemporary Queensland photography offers a selection of the photographic imagery coming out of Queensland today – ranging from the twist that Marian Drew gives to the genre of still life by adding road kill, to Mari Hirata’s photograms that transform high-heeled shoes into delicate skeletal patterns and Carl Warner’s contemplative response to graffiti in the urban landscape," he said.
Exhibiting artist Peter Milne, who also teaches in UQ’s School of Journalism and Communication, has created a new series that blends Queensland historical fact and fiction.
In Dreams of The Skull, Dr Milne investigates the role of the far right in Queensland politics, presented as “fictional history” through the possible dreams of neo-Nazi Ross May, a.k.a. “The Skull”.
Another of the exhibiting artists, Brisbane-based Martin Smith – who cuts personal and often embarrassing stories into the photographic image – has just been announced the winner of the People’s Choice Award for the University’s National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize 2009.
The state we’re in: Contemporary Queensland photography is presented as part of the Queensland Festival of Photography 3, taking place from April 9–11.
The curator will give a guided tour of the exhibition at 10am on Saturday, January 30, followed by artist talks by Paul Adair and Camilla Birkeland from 11am.
The state we’re in: Contemporary Queensland photography is open free to the public, seven days a week until 11 April 2010.
Media: Nick Mitzevich (0434 361 383, 07 3365 3046, n.mitzevich@uq.edu.au) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
** High resolution images are available for download here
