FEATURE STORY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER EDITION 2021: Art Gallery of WA relaunch heralds a new era

A gleaming renaissance has occurred at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Closed at the onset of the recent pandemic, as all galleries were, AGWA has puttered along since with a limited program while much of its structure was a building site. The aim was ambitious – to create a rooftop venue to include a sculpture garden, a gallery and a bar, accessed via a new lift on the outside of the building. But there is so much more to AGWA’s rebirth, as it now emerges, butterfly-like, from a lengthy hiatus, with the first major changes to the building since it was constructed in 1979.

The idea of utilising AGWA’s rooftop is not new. Architect Charles Sierakowski intended the area to be a public space. He also intended AGWA to feel connected to the city via large windows in the galleries with the cityscape clearly visible. AGWA has returned to this original vision, revealing windows looking out to the city, and removing semi-opaque blinds which blocked this view. The result contributes to a welcoming atmosphere, an outward looking attitude, and a reconnection with the metropolis surrounding it.

The rooftop has been used only intermittently over the decades, but it was previous AGWA Director Stefano Carboni who earmarked the space for development at the beginning of his directorship in 2008, finally convincing the government to invest in the project several years ago. And invest they have, with $10 million thrown at it, plus another $2 million as the project progressed – and it shows. Attention to detail is everywhere. Paving on the rooftop has been replaced with the warmer feel of wood, laid with angled patterning reflecting the hexagon shape of the building. The open air bar also reflects this angled shape, replete with stock of AGWA’s own beer, 1979, named after the year the gallery first opened. The outer perimeter of the rooftop space is lined with native plants, astoundingly considered in their placement, and a sparkling new gallery space replaces the conservation studio at its centre. But the coup d’etat is Targets, by award-winning Aboriginal artist Christopher Pease, which wraps around the exterior of the rooftop building. At five metres high and 34 metres long, it’s hard not to miss. The Dunsborough-based artist has reworked Frederick Garling’s 1827 colonial landscape Swan River, with the Targets title referencing his muse Jasper Johns and his mid-century work, as well as the idea of colonists ‘targeting the land’ for acquisition, and the notion of Aboriginal people as ‘targets of the state.’ The work lures viewers with depictions of recognisable colonial art before exposing colonial history as seen through an Indigenous lens.

Director Colin Walker says its the most important contemporary artwork in Australia at this point in time. “It’s awesome in every sense of the word,” he says. “It’s about the story of this place, and the history of this place, and the subtlety of its messages allows people to dig deeper into its meaning.”

There’s no denying Walker’s excitement at the launch of this work and the entire project, despite delays stretching the timeline for completion to 18 months. He says it’s been a civic privilege so many people worked on, creating something absolutely remarkable. “But you know what? We get to give it to the people for free and they can actually enjoy it,” he says. “We took a few risks without fear of making mistakes. I’d rather we take chances and fail than deliver mediocrity. I am not interested in mediocrity in any shape or form, not for this gallery or for this city. The project has only been achieved through hard work, cooperation, sweat, blood and tears. And there’s been plenty of tears along the way. Was it all worth it? I think so.”

He says it’s tricky to differentiate what is magnificent and what is just brilliant about the changes at AGWA. “It could be the massive new, enormous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection gallery we’ve reintroduced on the ground floor. Or it could be turning the gallery back to what the architect wanted, to that wonderful, welcoming new foyer with its beautiful desk. We want people to feel as though this is their place, not somebody else’s place. Everyone who comes in will feel welcomed – they’ll feel part of something that’s really special.”

As well as major changes to the building, AGWA has relaunched with a punchy, gallery-wide celebration of Western Australian art. The View From Here is the AGWA’s largest ever focus on local artists, featuring over 230 artists, 361 artworks and 111 new works commissioned for the historical moment. Artists include WA-raised, LA-based Sarah Bahbah who has over one million Instagram followers; Tim Meakins, whose giant, playful, 3D-printed sculptural works of weightlifters, posers and grinning weights occupy AGWA’s new interior rooftop gallery; Bruno Booth, whose Adidas-wearing cats appear throughout the gallery, as well as recent works by Abdul Abdullah, Ngarralja Tommy May, Danielle Freakly, Tyrown Waigana and Tarryn Gill.