Enjoy Ice Cold

Surrealism at GoMA

   It's only been open since December 2006 but in that time, Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art has really struck a chord with Queenslanders. I heard on the radio the other day that it's now Australia's most visited gallery. Past exhibitions like 'Picasso', 'Ron Mueck' and 'Art in the 21st Century' have had people queueing out the door. (Click the GoMA label below for some shots.) With each major event, there is a cinematic season. The Children's Art Centre hosts a corresponding hands-on exhibition which captures the essence of the art but makes it imaginative and engaging for kids (and adults). 

  

    Right now, the Surrealism exhibition is in full swing and will continue until the beginning of October. Most of the work is on loan from the Pompidou Centre in Paris so you can see works by Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and René Magritte to name but a few. You need to set aside a good chunk of a day to take in all the information, interactive activity, historical documents, sculpture and painting that awaits you. There's even a cafe halfway through where you can sit and take in all that you've learned over a flat white and a fancy biscuit...before jumping back in. Phew!

    They didn't allow photos in the main gallery this time but you can see some great shots of the kids' exhibit and discover the connection between Dalí and Chupa Chups lollipops HERE.

Rip and Roll

 This is the poster that has been in the news here recently.

It's a campaign by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities to promote safe sex among gay men (you can just make out the red-wrapped condom that the guy is holding on the bottom left). After plenty of coverage all over Brisbane, the Advertising Standards Bureau received so many complaints that Adshel had to pull the plug on the whole campaign. Then there was the counter attack: people were up in arms. There was a rally outside Adshel. After an investigation, it was found that the complaints all came from members of the Australian Christian Lobby. Infact it had been an orchestrated campaign deliberately giving the impression that they were from the wider population and weren't linked in any way. So the ban was overturned and now all the posters are back and you can see them all over the place.

Which is good cos I reckon it's a great shot.

And the ACL gets a big eye roll from me.

Canned Great Barrier Reef Turtle Soup, Anyone?

With the opening of the new walkway on the Go Between Bridge, the top portion of a lovely old building has become visible with this old painted sign. Foggitt, Jones and Co. seems to have been some sort of canned meat factory back in the 1930s from most accounts...

If the Brisbane Courier from November 14th 1931 is to be believed, one of it's meats was live turtles from the Great Barrier Reef. They were shipped from up the coast and straight to the Foggitt Jones wharf where they were turned into canned soup! Yikes! Barbarians!

My, Roger...What Big Eyes You've Got...

This notice, posted on a traffic light pole near where I live, caught my eye. Wow, that dog's got big eyes, I thought to myself. $250,000 dollars? I'd better keep my eyes peeled!
Anyway... I went to the website thinking it might be some sort of exciting, arty project but was a bit disappointed to see it is promoting a well-known dog food. Oh well... I suppose credit is due for creative advertising.

It's Hard To Have A Gaytime On Your Own

Streets, makers of the iconic Aussie ice-cream Golden Gaytime, have recently cottoned on to the kitsch value of their old slogan.

Ooo-er, missus!