REGIONAL TOUR FOR GALLERY’S LEGO ART WORK

An art work by leading international artist Olafur Eliasson will start a 20-month tour of regional Queensland at Pinnacles Gallery in Thuringowa, from Friday 7 September.

Arts Minister Rod Welford said The cubic structural evolution project, created from more than 300kg of white Lego building blocks, would tour to 12 regional venues between September 2007 and May 2009.

“Eliasson’s interactive work is part of the Queensland Art Gallery’s international collection and it has proved immensely popular with Gallery visitors of all ages,” Mr Welford said.

“Since it was first exhibited at the Gallery in late 2004, more than 260,000 people have participated in transforming the pile of Lego into an ever-changing cityscape environment.

“It was a hit at the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art and now audiences in regional Queensland centres, including Gladstone, Mackay, Hervey Bay and Toowoomba, will be able to participate in the construction of Eliasson’s work.”

Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said Eliasson has been a pioneer in international installation art since the late 1990s.

“The cubic structural evolution project challenges the notion of art as an object not to be touched and considers how we perceive and experience the world,” Mr Ellwood said.

“Like any contemporary city, his mini Lego world grows and reduces over the course of the exhibition as children and adult audiences participate in the pulling down and rebuilding of the Lego structure.

“The art work evolves on a daily basis, and the resulting metropolis offers endless possibilities, limited only by the imagination of the participants.”

Berlin-based Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark (the home of Lego), in 1967 and studied at the Danish Academy of Art from 1989 to 1995. He has exhibited widely with recent major solo projects in Switzerland, Japan and the UK.

The following galleries will host The cubic structural evolution project:

Pinnacles Gallery, Thuringowa, 7 – 30 September 2007
Warwick Art Gallery, 9 October – 18 November 2007
Ipswich Art Gallery, 26 November 2007 – 3 February 2008
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, 16 February – 30 March 2008
Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum, 9 April – 24 May 2008
Dogwood Crossing @ Miles, 4 June – 27 July 2008
Cooloola Shire Public Gallery, Gympie, 2 August – 6 September 2008
Bundaberg Arts Centre, 17 September – 26 October 2008
Artspace Mackay, 5 November – 14 December 2008
Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, 23 December 2008 – 8 February 2009
Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, 5 March – 4 April 2009
Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, 15 April – 31 May 2009

Media contact: Marnie Stitz or Emma Clarey on 3237 1000