Thursday’s lingering look at windows : Brisbane revisited

It was the last day of Laurie and Kerry’s very short visit to Australia. The week had flown by and the next day they fly back to New Zealand.

So where to go?

For something quite different we decide to explore the “big smoke”. Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland and it is just over a one hour train ride away.

First stop is the cultural centre on the south bank. We split up, I always enjoy browsing around the art gallery and Laurie and Kerry explored the museum with its wealth of information.

Brisbane art gallery

Meditation?

 

It is school holiday time and the museum is packed with excited children, but the art gallery is more sedate and I wander around absorbed in all the various displays. I suddenly become aware that many people are taking photos of the art, most of them are using their mobile phones. Children and young adults are posing in front of classic art and sculptures. I look around, the security staff are walking around and they do not seem to worry about all the photography. I’m amazed. What about copy-right? Then I realise that I have not seen any “no photos” signs. Maybe the powers-that-be have decided that in this day and age it is just too hard to police as people can now take furtive photos with the very small phones and go undetected.

So go with the flow and I snap a couple of my favourite paintings… Well maybe more than a couple 🙂

Beautiful old master. I love the colour and detail in this painting

I love the 3 dimensional look of this painting

Amazingly detailed fabric wall hanging

Lovely detail from the large Japanese wall hanging

The jacaranda tree one of my favourite paintings

Later I walked behind a young woman carrying a tripod over her shoulder and I eave-dropped on her conversation with one of the security staff.

“Have you got a permit for the tripod?” the guard said. The answer was “no”.

Well it seems you are classed as a professional photographer if you have a tripod and may be selling copies of your photos so have to buy a permit to take photos with a tripod. Interesting?

Brisbane art gallery

Behind the old art gallery a more recent addition is GOMA (gallery of modern art) only opened in 2006 it is an interesting contrast to the old style paintings. At the moment they are holding the APT (Asian Pacific Triennial) event showcasing art and sculpture from around the Asian Pacific region. Again I was tempted to take photos…

Papua New Guinea art. Do you like this one LIsa?

Interesting string designs

Can you work out which way is up?

What a good way to use old palm fronds.

Snake skeleton sculpture

I hope I never meet a real snake this size

It was almost lunch time and we had agreed to meet over the river in Queens Street, Brisbane’s premier shopping mall, for a coffee before exploring the CBD.

I walked past this very strange elephant sculpture outside the art gallery. It was commissioned in 2012 amidst much controversy. It is a beautiful work of art but I cannot understand what the significance is of putting him this way up.

Have you got any suggestions?

Controversial elephant sculpture. Now what can be the meaning behind this strange pose?

Well a look around Google found this….

“More than a million dollars was spent on this single piece of art,  commissioned by an artist who doesn’t live in Queensland or Australia for that  matter.”

Ms Bates insisted her comments about government waste were “not a smear on  the artist or the sculpture” but argued the state funding would have been better  spent helping the Queensland arts sector.

The sculpture was funded by the state government’s art+place Queensland  Public Art Fund and the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation.

Parekowhai was one of three  internationally acclaimed artists shortlisted to produce a sculpture to be  located between GOMA and the Brisbane River.

The Queensland Art Gallery argued the proposed sculpture responded to the  cultural and historical significance of Kurilpa Point.

“A life-sized bronze elephant, which on closer inspection is revealed to be a  bookend, is flipped on its head. Its eyes gaze directly into those of a kuril,  the native water rat that gives Kurilpa Point its name,” the gallery  said in a statement to the ABC earlier this year.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/milliondollar-mammoth-makes-minister-mad-20121016-27pfs.html#ixzz2Q8nV3JAd

Despite the “no climbing on the sculpture” sign, children were having great fun crawling all over his trunk.

Brisbane CBD across the Brisbane river

 

A pleasant walk along the walkway beside the river and we met out side the beautiful old Treasury Casino building and had a coffee and bite to eat before a wander along the Queen Street Mall.

Brisbane Treasury Casino

I am always looking for windows to share with the windows group organised by Dawn on the blog “The day after” This was a perfect opportunity. I was surrounded by beautiful heritage buildings as well as the glass hi-rises. So here is a gallery of windows of Brisbane.

Brisbane City Hall

Heritage building in Queen Street Mall

Myers Centre Queen Street Mall

Heritage bank Queen Street Mall

Brisbane CBD

Brisbane Treasury Casino