“Judging by how much public art has been installed, overdoing it could be the next problem, with public artworks so much part of our streetscapes that they are almost obscured. Things have certainly changed since the only art installed in public spaces in Australia was bronze life-size statues of eminent persons.
“In one of the best-known cafe and retail strips in Brisbane’s near-city New Farm, two large panels have been constructed above a newly renovated row of shops. For the next four to five months, those panels will display the work of Vernon Ah Kee: two of his drawings of faces, the same work that showed recently at the Sydney Biennale and in the Queensland Art Gallery.
“The idea, says Josh Milani of Brisbane’s Milani Gallery, evolved during discussions with the James Street developers, Patrick George and John James, who wanted a “public art component” but also something different, something other than an “architectural flourish”. “These are spaces that could be given over to advertising and promotion, but instead they will be devoted to ideas that are culturally and socially significant,” Milani says…”
Read More: Welcome to the Public Gallery, Rosemary Sorenson, The Australian
