The Curatorial Trainwreck

I was sceptical at best when I discovered that the University of Queensland had an Art Museum. What exactly might an educational institution with little else to do with the visual arts, have to say for itself in an artistic capacity? Not much at all, it would seem.

My already doubtful suspicions were confirmed right off the bat. After searching for a full ten minutes to find any trace of the gallery on the university directory, I was greeted with an incoherent hodgepodge of works that had very little to do with each other at all. The curator, Michele Helmrich, assured us that she selected only works that adhered strictly to a number of selection criteria. You wouldn't think so, looking at them. The works neither engaged in dialogue with each other; nor spoke very much for themselves.

The show claimed to be an expose of sorts, to do with the mass exodus of artists during the conservative premiership reign of Joh Bjelke-Peterson. With such a politically charged curatorial premise, I expected to see works that spoke volumes on the issues that pushed their artists away. Instead, I was greeted with Rosemary Laing's glitter and rainbows in 'appearance' and 'blow-out'; works that weren't helped in the least by the gallery's limitations. The works on the opposite wall by Robin Stacey provided some reprieve, through thoughtful compositions with a hint of narrative. A valiant effort, however not enough to save my impression of the first room. And certainly not a good start.

As I moved through the segments of the exhibition, it felt like moving through a series of separate, unrelated exhibitions. Works that might have engaged enigmatically with others were muted by white dividing walls. And once I'd seen everything, I was disappointed at Helmrich's selective juxtaposition. The Rosemary Laing works in the first space might have resonated well with 'Untitled No's 1-10' by Jeff Gibson in the last space, but at opposite ends of the gallery, the former is long forgotten before you've even reached the latter. Major failure on the curation front.

With my expectations already low, I entered the second space. The theme seemed to lean towards postcolonial issues, but had little at all to do with Bjelke-Peterson's time in office. To my surprise, I found Fiona McDonald's woven juxtapositions compelling to begin with. Although, it became immediately apparent that there was little substance behind what might otherwise have been a deep, well-rounded set of works. Tracey Moffat's triptych sadly leant the same way. One might argue heartily about the virtues of these works, but they lack a certain panache.

Barbara Campbell's 'Conradiana' took up a vast occupation of the third space. It was certainly a monumental work, having typed out the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad six times on a typewriter. I barely gave a thought to the prints on the surrounding walls, as I was stuck on Campbell's work. Why is there a TV screen in front of the work, running a poorly-shot video of a Disneyland ride? And what did any of this have to do with Bjelke-Peterson? Why were none of these works engaging in a dialogue with the original premise of this gathering?

The theme and the mood changed again as I proceeded to the fourth space, this time to movies and theatricality. Jeff Gibson's series on top of a garish wallpaper was the first to pull my attention, but Laing's spear-on-the-wall changed that very quickly. Theatrical was the right word for this room; the works were all show, no substance. Again. In fact, theatrical might just be the word for this entire exhibition. A bunch of expensive, awkward pieces of glitz and glamour that dazzle for a second, before fading into meaninglessness.

There are curatorial lessons galore from this exemplar of what-not-to-do. Have a proper conviction behind your premise for a show, instead of a wishy-washy not-too-defined idea. Make sure your works relate to said premise, and converse meaningfully and coherently with each other. Use this potential for discussion as the driving force behind the layout, and not as an afterthought. Above all, don't pick works on the basis of how wealthy they make your institution look. What an absolute waste of time, effort and resources.