Queensland Art Gallery Sculpture Installation

A 10-metre tall neon sculpture in the forecourt of Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is striking a chord with Cultural Centre visitors who find themselves attracted by the brilliant lighting, only to be left musing on the questioning text.

One of the first major commissions completed under the art+place program, The High / Perpetual Xmas, No Abstractions, was created for GoMA’s summer blockbuster Contemporary Australia: Optimism (15 Nov 2008 – 22 Feb 2009) by internationally-recognised Gold Coast artist Scott Redford, which received $220 350 in funding from art+place.

A dramatic public art intervention in the cultural precinct by day and a brilliant and exciting spectacle when illuminated at night, Redford’s work raises issues of what is art and what is kitsch – not unlike Warhol’s Brillo Boxes.

The first public art work by Redford of this scale, The High / Perpetual Xmas, No Abstractions draws inspiration from the artist’s association with the Queensland Gold Coast and its pop culture icons, such as the popular motel neon signs of the 1950s and 60s.

The form and look of the sculpture was inspired by a now-demolished motel sign in Yukon, Oklahoma in the United States.

The art+place program is dedicated to the realisation of significant public art across the State to enhance the sense of urban and regional place and extend public understanding of the role of public art in our community.

Words: Queensland Art Gallery