The Art Gallery of N$W

Let us assume that the purpose of a publicly funded art gallery is to make art available to the public in an engaging manner without compromising the beauty or integrity of the art works on display.

Does the Art Gallery of N$W achieve this? Not on the evidence of several recent visits.

The permanent non-contemporary and Asian art collections are solidly, if uninspiringly, displayed. The Australian contemporary collection on the upper level is starting to look a bit tired and needs to be refreshed.

The presentation of modern art on the lower levels is appalling - an uncaring mess which cramps some fine work into awkward spaces and treats other, brilliant, work with disdain. The majority of work though, with some notable exceptions (mainly British), is tosh characterised by its inherent worthlessness and poor presentation.

Lighting has always been a problem at N$W. Patchy at best, in some cases, it actively detracts from the work displayed.

One example will suffice. Anish Kapoor’s Void Field (1989) (please note the title) consists of four waist high blocks of Nothumbrian sandstone each of which has been hollowed out. According to one of the few intelligible curatorial descriptions, the large discs atop each appear to be black velvet “but on close inspection are revealed as holes in the rock”. Indeed, they are. They appear as velvety menisci, impenetrable to the human eye. What’s more, after realising that the velvet discs are holes, the viewer gradually becomes aware that, “there are no apparent sides to the holes and there is no visible end to the space”.

Not at N$W. The block at the south western corner has been so indifferently lit that the interior of the stone is illuminated, utterly destroying the illusion and instantly detaching the viewer from the work’s magic.

Kapoor is a master of space and this treatment not only undermines the integrity of the work but its very reason for being. The illusion on which it relies has been destroyed. A disgrace.

That the security guard watched as a family disported themselves on the work to better grease the stones with body oils (and shoved recently French fried mitts into the holes) confirmed the apparent contempt with which N$W treats artist and patron - at least, those patrons who don’t think they’re at an amusement park.

Sensitive lighting is essential for the proper display of art. Does N$W employ professional lighting experts? That is, professionals expert in the illumination of art, rather than fashion shows or cocktail parties.

Leaving N$W at 4.00pm recently, further contempt for patrons was on display. The main entrance gallery was given over to a score of waiters setting up for dinner. Here the real preoccupation of N$W was revealed in all its corporate hideousness.

If you want to see public art, don’t waste your time in Sydney. Head to the public galleries of Melbourne, Brisbane or, better yet, North America - places which have not lost sight of their reason for being.