Sydney AUS, March 23, 2012—The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) reopens on Thursday 29 March 2012 as a bold, new and expanded museum. Following a AUD$53 million redevelopment, the Museum will be transformed into a major cultural centre for contemporary art and creative learning.
The MCA is Australia’s Museum of Contemporary Art, dedicated to exhibiting, collecting and interpreting the work of today’s artists. The widely anticipated reopening of the Museum is a highlight on the international art calendar. This milestone will be celebrated with a week-long series of launch events culminating in a dynamic schedule of free artist talks and public programs throughout the opening weekend.
The new MCA opens with Marking Time, an international exhibition which presents major works by eleven artists in the spacious new top floor galleries. The world-renowned and highly-acclaimed 24-hour video installation The Clock by Christian Marclay occupies the largest of all galleries, the Level 1 Gallery in the new wing.
The Museum has also commissioned Performance Space to curate a performance program in and around the new building. Local Positioning Systems comprises six artists from Australia and a UK collaborative. The new MCA opens with a collection hang, Volume One: MCA Collection, which features works by more than 150 Australian artists.
The second season comprises the 18th Biennale of Sydney across two floors of the MCA. In October, the annual Primavera exhibition will showcase young Australian artists, alongside the first major solo survey devoted to the work of renowned Australian artist Ken Whisson. Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro will take over the Museum’s Level 1 Gallery in the new wing. In December, artist Brook Andrew will curate a thought-provoking exhibition which presents recent and new artworks by Indigenous artists from Australia and around the world. And the MCA will present the first major exhibition by Anish Kapoor in Australia as part of the Sydney International Art Series. The exhibition will be on two of the Museum’s Levels, Level 3 and Level 1 North.
Another addition to the Museum are the new rooftop venues. Created to take advantage of their location, the venues offer spectacular views across Sydney Harbour from the Opera House to the Harbour Bridge.
‘I am delighted to confirm the redeveloped MCA will open in March 2012 with a dynamic program of exhibitions showcasing work by Australian artists alongside their international peers. It is thrilling to see the new MCA take shape. The creation of wonderful new spaces for art and for creative learning, right on the harbour is a landmark in the Museum’s history. The cutting-edge architecture complements the existing building and the use of new technology sets a new standard for collaboration with audiences. The new MCA will be a world-class hub of art and creative learning which responds to the Museum’s growing audience and reaches out across the country,’ said MCA Director, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor.
A key feature of the new MCA’s program is a series of commissions by Australian artists. Brook Andrew will install a permanent work on the Circular Quay façade which draws attention to the colonial naval dock remains underneath the new extension. The work is a poetic response to one aspect of the interpretation of the heritage of the site.
The artist who represented Australia in the 2011 Venice Biennale, Hany Armanious, will create the first work for the new Sculpture Terrace, a spectacular space for art overlooking Sydney Harbour. Each year an artist will be invited to create a site-specific installation to be exhibited for a period of up to 12 months. The MCA Sculpture Series will stimulate ambitious and significant new work to fire the public imagination.
Melbourne artist Emily Floyd will create the first commission for the MCA’s Bella Room for children with specific needs. In response to a brief to create a work for children with visual impairments, Emily is developing a playful sensory and tactile environment which will enhance the experiences of touch and smell in a creative learning space.
Grant Stevens will create a video work for the new MCA foyer featuring the names of the donors who have contributed to the Museum’s redevelopment. It will complement Imants Tillers’ Pure Beauty in the previous Museum entrance, which was commissioned in 1993 after the existing building was converted into the MCA.
Helen Eager will create a large-scale wall painting for the Circular Quay entrance. The commission, the artist’s largest artwork to date, will be added to the MCA’s collection of wall drawings and will provide a strong statement in the entrance for the first year.
Melbourne-based artist Andrew McQualter will re-install his site-specific work Untitled wall painting (for Helen Johnson) first commissioned in 2007 for the MCA’s Collection. McQualter is a Primavera artist whose metaphoric imagery suggests relationships we cultivate and nurture, gardening and cultural production. His wall painting will be in the passageway leading from the new building to the MCA’s Foundation Hall.
The MCA would like to thank the following galleries for their support of the MCA’s commissioned artworks: Brook Andrew - Tolarno Galleries Melbourne, Hany Armanious – Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery Sydney, Emily Floyd - Anna Schwartz Gallery Sydney and Melbourne, Grant Stevens - Gallery Barry Keldoulis, and Helen Eager - Utopia Arts Sydney.
