A picture-perfect partnership has unveiled an array of fresh artworks to adorn the walls of the Queens Square court complex.
Art leasing organisation Artbank has once again teamed up with the Courts to lease a range of new works inside the Complex as part of a temporary exhibition, including sculptures by Indigenous artists.
The art leasing organisation has been in operation for over forty years and composes more than 10,000 works available to work places and homes around the country. Its intention is to support and promote contemporary Australian artists and brighten the office landscape of those working inside the court complex.
Many judicial staff jumped on board to assist with the latest curation, including NSW Supreme Court Justice John Sackar, who worked closely with Art Consultant Courtney Kidd to augment a fresh selection of works in the public areas.
“I first encountered [the organisation] many years ago when I was in [barristers] chambers,” Justice Sackar told LSJ.
“It provided the perfect solution to the odd artistic disagreement amongst members as to what should be on the walls of the common areas.”
“The choice of artworks available … and the ability regularly to refresh the various areas of the Courts building has immeasurably enhanced the workplace.”
The new selection begins at the Phillip Street entrance of the complex, where a collection of Indigenous law poles is mounted on a low-level plinth. The works showcase craftsmanship and knowledge by First Nations artists including Malalakpuy Munyarryun, Dhurrumuwuy Marika and Jimmy Wood.
Some of the new items on exhibition have context and meaning befitting their surroundings. Near the ceremonial Banco Court, the area used for solicitor admission ceremonies in non-pandemic times, are new huge plywood waxed domed sculptures, Archetypes by Glenn Dunn, and a larger than human scale free standing sculpture by Daniel Templeman called Tilt.
Artbank said in a statement that Templeman’s huge timber work appears precariously balanced and “is as much about the febrile and weighty balance of law and government as it is about the precarious illusory quality of its surface and form.”