Minister Barr: New sculpture garden to feature at Floriade
- Written by ACT Government
Released 05/09/2017
Celebrating 30 years in bloom, Floriade - Australia’s premiere spring celebration - returns to Commonwealth Park this month.
This year the flower-filled festival will not only showcase an impressive array of flowerbeds inspired by the past 29 years of Floriade, but also welcomes 16 large sculptures as part of the new artsACT sculpture garden initiative.
Showcasing a diverse range of artworks, the sculpture garden offers a point of difference for visitors to Floriade. In 2016 the work of six artists featured in the event; however, this year the program has been extended to include 16 impressive installations, adding a new dimension to the popular major tourism event.
“This year’s sculpture garden will feature artworks by a number of high-profile local and interstate artists including Philip Spelman, Katy Mutton, Jimmy Rix, Lucy Humphry, Margarita Sampson, Matthew Harding, Andrew Townsend and Suzie Bleach,” Minister for the Arts and Community Events Gordon Ramsay said.
Featured artist, Philip Spelman will showcase his work, Tete et tete, at Floriade this year, and was also an art contributor to the first Floriade, hosted in 1988. Mr Spelman attributes the sale of his art at the first Floriade as a launch pad for his successful career as a sculptor.
Mr Spelman jumped at the opportunity to exhibit at this year’s festival. Whilst exhibiting nationally and internationally over the past thirty years, Canberra has been his base for most of that time.
“Canberra is a very enjoyable place to make sculpture. We have terrific services and industry, and a community that shows strong support for the arts,” Mr Spelman said.
Local artist Katy Mutton’s brightly coloured camouflaged boat, In Plain Sight, has featured on Lake Burley-Griffin for the past 12 months and this year Floriade visitors will be able to get on the boat from the Floriade Jetty at Regatta Point. Visitors will also be able to view her new work, Pattern Logic, which is a large-scale ephemeral work on grass.
“It's very exciting to be given the opportunity to create an artwork for Floriade, particularly in its 30th year,” Ms Mutton said.
“This new work represents a significant shift in scale for my art practice in terms of the work itself and exposure to new audiences. I have also been overwhelmed by the support I have received from the Canberra community and beyond for In Plain Sight. I like to think it can be engaged with on a number of levels. There is also something pretty fantastic about creating an artwork that is active, in that people can take tours on it and briefly become part of the work.”
To find out more about the sculptures and the artists, visit the Floriade website
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Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Gordon Ramsay, MLA | Media Releases
