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1996 | re collection: The Griffith University Art Collection - 25 Years

Brisbane City Hall Gallery | 5 August - 16 September 1996

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the official founding of Griffith University ‘re collection: The Griffith University Art Collection – 25 Years’ was displayed in the heart of Brisbane.

‘re collection’ revealed only a glimpse of the Griffith University Art Collection through a selection of eighty-six works. The focus of the Collection is reflected in the selection of works which in many ways has mapped alternative art histories (such as conceptual, intermedia, filmic, and performative histories). This exhibition was a testimony to the expansion and explosion of the visual arts field over the past three decades. The exhibition was opened by Professor Roy Webb and the late Betty Churcher (1931 – 2015).

The then Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Webb, wrote: “Griffith is recognised as an innovative and dynamic University, reflected in its spirited Collection of É«ÇéÍøÕ¾n contemporary art. Griffith ARTWORKS, the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and the Queensland College of Art, in themselves institutions with remarkable histories, all contribute to the unique position in the arts Griffith occupies today.

Recently the É«ÇéÍøÕ¾n Vice-Chancellors Committee organised a review of museums and collections within universities, and identified the importance of these holdings and the need to resource their ongoing good management as an important part of É«ÇéÍøÕ¾’s Distributed National Collections.”

Artists: 
Bronwyn Bancroft, Chris Barry (Krystyna Marczak), Cherie Bradshaw (Mantis Prints), Cherie Bradshaw (Redback Posters), Peter Burgess, Ian Burn, Michael Callaghan (Redback Graphix), Donna Confetti, Lawrence Daws, Destiny Deacon, Dorian Dowse, Rose Farrell And George Parkin, Lynette Finch, Fiona Foley, A. Gee (Lucifoil Poster Collective), Elizabeth Gertsakis, Jeff Gibson, Anne Graham, Felix Hude, Teresa Jordan (Inkahoots), Ingo Kleinert, Christopher Koller, Richard Larter, Janet Laurence, Jennifer Leggett, David Mcdiarmid, Anne Macdonald, Robyn Mcdonald (Inkahoots), Marie Mcmahon (Redback Graphix), Robert Macpherson, Tim Maguire, Tracey Moffatt, Mike Nicholls And Tim Kreger, Frank Osvath, Mike Parr, David Perry, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Scott Redford, Luke Roberts, Toni Robertson And Chips Mackinolty (Earthworks Poster Collective), Paul Selwood, Martin Sharp, Chris Stannard (Inkahoots), Stelarc, Mike Stevenson, James Swan (Pitchas), Albie Thoms, Hiram To, John Tonkin, Unknown, Unknown (Earthworks Poster Collective), Unknown (Griffith Revolutionary Cabal), Unknown (Griffith University Union Of Students), Unknown (Redback Graphix), Unknown (Women's É«ÇéÍøÕ¾ Needlework Group), Ruth Waller, Brett Whiteley, Judith Wright, Anne Zahalka, Barbara Campbell, Paul Andrew, Arf Arf (Marcus Bergner. Frank Lovice, Merisa Stipe and Michael Buckley), John Gillies and The Sydney Front, Diana Leach, Penny Mcdowell and Tim Slade, Mahalya Middlemist And Sue-ellen Kohler, Martina Palombi, Deb Verhoeven and Ambree Hewitt, Geoffrey Weary, Caama (Central É«ÇéÍøÕ¾n Aboriginal Media Association), Peter Kennedy And John Hughes, Tracey Moffatt, Rachel Perkins, Randall Wood.

^{Images: re collection: The Griffith University Art Collection - 25 Years, Brisbane City Hall Gallery, 1996.}

1997 | Magazine Space, Eagle Street Pier

Throughout 1997 we were offered free use of the 'Magazine Space' at Eagle Street Pier. After improving environmental conditions and surveying the space a series of artists were invited to exhibit in the space. Despite being asked to continue using the space in 1998, due to the minimal staff and large effort to coordinate a year of programming we ended our programming at the 'Magazine Space' in December 1997.

Judith Wright: rhythm of memory | March – April

Anthony Babicci: Poor Homme | May – June

Jill Barker: Dresses for Henrietta Lacks | July – August

Joanne Currie Nalingu: Stolen Generation | September – October

Mona Ryder: Delicious | November – December

rhythm of memory is an installation by Brisbane-based artist Judith Wright. The elements used in the exhibition – dressmaker's dummies, shoe lasts, hat lasts, a video of a slowly turning wrapped head, and printed words – trace a journey along the passage of windows. Walking along the windowfront the artist invites people to pace out this journey, to read this sentence of artwork, to recall the memories of their own life journey. Beth Jackson, Curator.

Poor Homme is an installation by Brisbane-based artist Anthony Babicci. Eleven large painted faces of men stare out from behind the glass windows onto the city street. That is, they would stare except that, instead of eyes, the sockets in these faces are filled with small landscapes. ‘Poor Homme’ explores the “nature” of man and masculinity. Each face is made up of many complex, textured layers pulsating vibrantly with living colours. Larger than life, they testify to the energy and complexity of each individual person. Beth Jackson, Curator.

Dresses for Henrietta Lacks is an installation by Brisbane-based artist Jill Barker. Dresses made of silver contact paper have been adhered to the windows. They shimmer and glint like the magic ball-gowns of girlhood fairytales of our childhood. What do we see in three dimensions is our own familiar reflections in the mirrors. The dresses shimmer like an unreal ideal of femininity which has shaped and continues to shape our real bodies, identities and life stories. In the shop window-front space of consumerism we become voyeurs of our own identities, imagining ourselves in other costumes, motivated by desires to be different and desires to be the same. Beth Jackson, Curator.

Stolen Generation is an exhibition by artist Joanne Currie, a member of the Gunggari Aboriginal people of Southern Queensland. The work is a fence-line made from a mixture of materials, from traditional ochres to barbed wire, from emu feathers to petrol drums, sunk firmly into red earth. The work symbolises both the strength and suffering of Aboriginal peoples. Beth Jackson, Curator.

Delicious is an installation by Brisbane-based artist Mona Ryder. Quirky creatures assembled from objects and materials ranging from the everyday to the very precious dangle before our eyes, filling the windows with their curious forms. A neon light glows with the words “Mother Other Lover”. Mona Ryder’s work speaks to the many and varied roles women play and the multiple aspects of femininity. Beth Jackson, Curator.

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^{Image: Architect plans for the 'Magazine Space' at Eagle Street Pier.}