Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art Surveys 21st Century International Art

BRISBANE, Australia, September 23, 2010 - An ambitious exhibition of contemporary international art from the first
decade of the twenty-first century will be presented at the Gallery of Modern
Art (GoMA) in Brisbane, Australia from December 18, 2010 to April 25, 2011.

Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said '21st Century: Art in
the First Decade' would showcase over 180 works by more than 100 senior and
emerging artists from 40 countries, with most of the work from the Gallery's
own collection.

'The Queensland Art Gallery has forged new territory in contemporary art
over the past 20 years with its Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art
(APT) exhibition series and Asian and Pacific collections. '21st Century'
signals a commitment to be truly international in contemporary art collection
development,' Mr Ellwood said.

The exhibition highlights the Gallery's acquisitions over the past decade
with works from Australia, Asia, the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East,
Europe, and North, South and Central America.

It will present a series of commissions, loans from Australian and
international institutions, and a curated children's program of interactive
works.

An exhibition blog, www.21Cblog.com will feature commentary from
international curators and writers including co-curators for the 2011
Istanbul Biennial Jens Hoffman (USA) and Adriano Pedrosa (Brazil) and Tom
Vanderbilt (USA).

'The '21st Century' project will explore artistic responses to the impact
of global political, economic, environmental and technological change, and
current ideas about contemporary art and the role of museums in the
tumultuous first decade of the new millennium.

'Some works respond specifically to issues which have preoccupied us
during the decade, while others address broader social and political themes,
or find new expressions for longstanding aesthetic and philosophical
concerns,' he said.

'The exhibition will introduce audiences to works that represent key
moments of impact in recent contemporary art that would have been unthinkable
in previous decades.

'The Gallery is delighted to be working with Stockholm-based artist
Carsten Höller to produce an ambitious new commission that will see the
installation of two spiral-shaped slides in GoMA's foyer. The slides will
have an elegant, sculptural presence at the entrance to the exhibition and
will send visitors hurtling between the Gallery's third floor and ground
level.

'Other exhibition highlights include Leandro Erlich's astounding trompe
l'oeil sculpture, Swimming pool, which represented Argentina at the 2001
Venice Biennale; Turner Prize winner Martin Creed's Half the air in a given
space, in which half the volume of one of GoMA's galleries will be filled
with purple balloons; and a major new sound work by French artist Celeste
Boursier-Mougenot in which visitors will share a gallery with live zebra
finches.

'Other important commissions include Untitled (NASDAQ) 2003 by Claude
Closky (France), a wallpaper work that prefigured the financial crisis of
2009, Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou's installation of thousands
of plastic bags that form an enormous colourful sculptural form, and a new
wall drawing by Mexican artist Jorge Mendez Blake.

'21st Century' will showcase film and video works, including major works
by Shaun Gladwell (Australia), Isaac Julien (UK), Robin Rhode (South Africa),
Aernout Mik (The Netherlands) and Ryan Trecartin (USA).

New acquisitions being unveiled include work by Romuald Hazoumé (Benin),
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (Côte d'Ivoire), Mitra Tabrizian (Iran), Guy Tillim
(South Africa), Olaf Breuning (Switzerland), SUPERFLEX (Denmark) and Sharif
Waked (Palestine).

'21st Century' will be complemented by two major cinema programs,
extensive public programs and a publication featuring critical texts by
Australian and international writers and curators.

For more information please visit www.qag.qld.gov.au

    MEDIA INQUIRIES:
    Amelia Gundelach,
    Queensland Art Gallery
    tel: +61-(0)-7-3840-7162
    e: amelia.gundelach@qag.qld.gov.au

Media Inquiries: Amelia Gundelach, Queensland Art Gallery, +61-(0)-7-3840-7162, amelia.gundelach at qag.qld.gov.au