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In Sydney there was so much to see! We were happy to visit British artist Cornelia Parker’s retrospective at The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The work ‘Subconscious of a Monument’ (2001–05) was fascinating, using rubble that had lain beneath the Leaning Tower of Pisa until they made some repairs to stop it falling down
‘Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View’(1991). Cornelia had put together an historical interpretation of a garden shed and then got the British Army to blow it up, she then meticulously put it back together
The negative cut outs of remembrance poppies in ‘War Room’ was the most moving of works for me
The highlight of my trip to Sydney was visiting Judith Neilson at White Rabbit Gallery, one of the most important collections of Chinese contemporary art in the world
This work is called ‘Mini Home’ by Jin Shi, who we also collect. The artist produced this scaled down installation based on the dwellings of rural migrants he visited after becoming interested in the lives of stall sellers in the city
Glenn Scott Wright and Poju standing in front of a Chen Wenling work, the pig is a metaphor for contemporary China
Judith and myself as the pig stands in supplication to the sky
There were intriguing works everywhere, everything installed thoughtfully and with care. Wang Zhiyuan was no exception
Judith, who is actually ZC Lizzie’s cousin, has built a theatre right in her backyard and some incredibly state of the art architectural spaces
Her vision and generosity of spirit is exemplary
She kindly invited us into her wonderful home which was magnificent and full of lovely surprises
In the evening we were invited to the home of Amanda Love where we stood with Anna underneath Tracey Emin’s beautiful bird
Next thing we found ourselves in a smoky Canberra. The devastating fires were everywhere, we certainly felt it in Sydney and it was even worse in the capital. A familiar sight was seeing Urs Fischer in the lobby of the National Gallery of New South Wales
We loved this wonderful backdrop of all the theatre costumes!
The galleries were impressive, full of light and atmosphere, showing the likes of Frank Stella, David Hockney and Barnett Newman
Museums from all over the world lust over the works on loan from Musée National Picasso in Paris. This work ‘Still Life with Pitcher and Apples’ was produced in 1919
Some of the more delicate works had been covered because of the effect of smoke! Now we head to Tasmania
