The buildings and grounds of The University of Queensland’s Ipswich campus are the subject of a new photographic exhibition opening next month.
The Presence of Absence: Images of an Institution, featuring 20 black and white gold-toned photographs by Peter Liddy will be on display at the Ipswich Art Gallery from October 30.
The University commissioned the Brisbane photographer to document the heritage and contemporary buildings and grounds of the campus as part of its Centenary celebrations. The works will also be acquired by The UQ Art Museum.
Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Ipswich campus Professor Alan Rix said although the campus was just over ten years old, the site’s fascinating history originated in the 1870s.
“From a place for society’s less fortunate – the mentally ill, the criminally insane, the intellectually handicapped – the site is now a place for those fortunate enough to receive a university education,” he said.
“With 17 heritage-listed buildings, several contemporary buildings, many heritage-listed trees and gardens, it was the ideal subject for a photographic essay.”
Ipswich Art Gallery Director Michael Beckmann said Mr Liddy had a keen eye for the form and patterns in buildings and their intervening spaces.
“His images highlight many of the hidden architectural features and give a powerful sense of the buildings and the garden setting of the campus,” he said.
The images include vistas across the campus, close ups of trees and sectional views of red brick work buildings.
Mr Liddy’s past exhibitions have documented the Blair Pavilion, one of the heritage-listed buildings on the Ipswich campus site, mining heritage remnants at Broken Hill, and the construction of Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art and renovation of State Library of Queensland.
“Peter Liddy’s photographic record of the campus will be a lasting tribute to the University of Queensland’s first 100 years and to its commitment to the preservation of a remarkable campus environment,” Professor Rix said.
An accompanying publication will be available from the Ipswich Art Gallery and The University of Queensland bookshop, with Government Architect Phillip Follent officially opening the exhibition on November 14.
The Presence of Absence: Images of an Institution is on show at the Ipswich Art Gallery until February 13.
