Sunday, June 17, 2007

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)
The Queensland Art Gallery - Gallery of Modern Art, or GOMA as its known to the locals, is a wonderful new gallery located in South Brisbane within the Cultural Centre precinct of South Bank. It is the largest gallery of modern and contemporary art in Australia. Opening hours are from 10:00am to - 5:00pm Monday to Friday, with the weekend opening time extended to 9:00am. Admission is free, except for special exhibitions and screenings. It was opened on the 2nd December, 2006.

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)The entrance foyer is dominated by this huge black and white work by Eko Nugroho. The prime reason for having an art gallery is to exhibit Art, however, aside from the many public gallery areas, there are also cinemas, a library, a number of cafes, and a gallery store. Multi-media and new technology is used as both an adjunct to certain pieces, and also as art in itself. They also have guest speakers and guided tours of the collections. A major exhibition, the Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art was the prime opening exhibition. At present, the main gallery is being refurbished for a new exhibition. Details of upcoming and current events can be found on the gallery website.

Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)
Today we were still able to wander through the existing exhibitions. There are some things which take my eye, and others that leave me wondering if a blank canvas with a small splotch of paint really is art. I enjoyed the indigenous aboriginal collection. One problem I have with these galleries is how hard it is to take your kids, and not let them touch the artworks, particularly things like carved stonework. Of course they want to explore! However, in this instance my boys were very well behaved.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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2 comments:

Brissiemum2 said...

We took our kids to the Asia-Pacific display and the hands-on activities for the kids was fabulous. The art gallery always seems to offer great children's programme's to compliment their exhibitions. In fact, I think a lot of the other South Bank attractions could learn from them.

Pollyanna said...

Okay, I'm sorry, but I am just NOT into modern art. That just looks odd and odd. The hands-on-activites for kids that bissiemum spoke about DOES sound very interesting though. When I was a kid we went to the Omni Science Musuem in Portland, Oregon and they had a lot of hands on stuff for kids too. I will NEVER forget it. I hope to take the kids there someday. Check it out if you're ever in Portland.