MELBOURNE, Dec 13 — The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne is getting ready to launch its inaugural NGV Triennial, a large-scale exhibition of art, architecture and design whose inaugural edition will feature major new works by Yayoi Kusama, Ron Mueck and teamLab.
The immensely popular artist Yayoi Kusama is behind what is perhaps the Triennial’s key highlight: the Japanese artist has created a major new participatory work in which visitors will be invited to “obliterate” a room of flowers, say organizers.
Other major world-premiere commissions include a 15.8-metre-long reclining Buddha sculpture by Xu Zhen made using 3D scanned and cast replicas of classical sculptures; an installation of Marie Antoinette-inspired haute couture gowns from the Chinese couturier Guo Pei; and a project by Sissel Tollas, a Norwegian “smell designer” who will recreate “the scents of Melbourne.”
In all, 20 large-scale artworks have been commissioned by the NGV for the Triennial and include architecture, design, sculpture, installation, moving image and interactive works.
Among other highlights, actors Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin give voice to refugees’ stories in a new video work by Candice Breitz, while a brightly coloured, upholstered dome created by a cross-cultural design team consisting of Estudio Campana (Brazil), Yarrenyty Arltere Artists (Australia) and Elliat Rich (Australia) will welcome visitors to the exhibition.
Melbourne-born artist Ron Mueck has created his largest work to date for the event, according to the NGV: his “epically sized” sculptural display is said to interact with works in the NGV’s 18th-century gallery spaces.
Japan’s teamLab, meanwhile, has created an interactive immersive installation that suggests a “vortex,” with a digital floor that responds to audience movement as water would; and Japanese design house Nendo will present 50 of its “Manga chairs,” which feature stainless-steel frames that incorporate manga effects such as speech bubbles and effect lines.
The NGV Triennial runs from December 15, 2017 through April 15, 2018, presenting more than 100 artists and designers from 32 countries across all four level of the National Gallery of Victoria’s NGV International site. Find more information and a programme at www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/ngv-triennial. — AFP-Relaxnews
