Jonathan JONES / Kamilaroi/Wiradjuri people, b.1978; Dr Uncle Stan Grant Sr AM / Wiradjuri people, b.1940 / untitled (giran) 2018 / Bindu-gaany (freshwater mussel shell), gabudha (rush), gawurra (feathers), marrung dinawan (emu egg), walung (stone), wambuwung dhabal (kangaroo bone), wayu (string), wiiny (wood) on wire pins, 48-channel soundscape, eucalyptus oil / Purchased 2018 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Copyright reserved / Photography: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA

Jonathan JONES / Kamilaroi/Wiradjuri people, b.1978; Dr Uncle Stan Grant Sr AM / Wiradjuri people, b.1940 / untitled (giran) 2018 / Bindu-gaany (freshwater mussel shell), gabudha (rush), gawurra (feathers), marrung dinawan (emu egg), walung (stone), wambuwung dhabal (kangaroo bone), wayu (string), wiiny (wood) on wire pins, 48-channel soundscape, eucalyptus oil / Purchased 2018 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Copyright reserved / Photography: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA / View full image

Jonathan Jones

untitled (giran) 2018

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Tacita Dean, b.1965 / Chalk Fall 2018 / Chalk on blackboard / Purchased 2021. The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust Collection: The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Copyright reserved

Tacita Dean, b.1965 / Chalk Fall 2018 / Chalk on blackboard / Purchased 2021. The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust Collection: The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Copyright reserved / View full image

Tacita Dean

Chalk Fall 2018

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Ali Kazim b.1979 / Untitled (storm series) 2018 / Pigments on mylar / Purchased 2018 with funds from the Contemporary Patrons through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation /: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Ali Kazim

Ali Kazim b.1979 / Untitled (storm series) 2018 / Pigments on mylar / Purchased 2018 with funds from the Contemporary Patrons through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation /: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Ali Kazim / View full image

Ali Kazim

Untitled (cloud series) 2018, Untitled (storm series) 2018

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Patrick Pound / New Zealand / Australia b.1962 / Air heading left (The air lock) (detail) 2022 / Photographs and objects from the artist’s collection and the QAGOMA Collection / dimensions variable / Image courtesy: The artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, and STATION, Melbourne

Patrick Pound / New Zealand / Australia b.1962 / Air heading left (The air lock) (detail) 2022 / Photographs and objects from the artist’s collection and the QAGOMA Collection / dimensions variable / Image courtesy: The artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, and STATION, Melbourne / View full image

Patrick Pound

The air lock 2022

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Anthony McCall / United Kingdom / United States b.1946 / Crossing 2016 (installation views, GOMA 2016) / Two double video projections (20 minutes), haze machine and sound, ed. 1/3 / Commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art / Purchased 2016 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation/ Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA

Anthony McCall / United Kingdom / United States b.1946 / Crossing 2016 (installation views, GOMA 2016) / Two double video projections (20 minutes), haze machine and sound, ed. 1/3 / Commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art / Purchased 2016 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation/ Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA / View full image

Anthony McCall

Crossing 2016

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Exhibition Themes

Introduction

Every breath of air is precious, vital to life. Yet because it can feel infinite, we think of air very differently to a resource such as water.

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Atmosphere

Our greenhouse planet spins through space, warmed by the Sun and surrounded by a vital mix of life-supporting gases – our precious atmosphere, the air we breathe.

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Burn

We are usually unaware of the air we breathe, but might sense it when standing near an air vent.

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Shared

We share the air – with one another, plants, trees and algae. With each breath, we take in oxygen created by these companions. Air and life have evolved together on Earth.

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Invisible

Sometimes what we cannot see makes us anxious. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic we focused on sanitising our hands to remove unseen pathogens; later we studied the invisible spread of aerosols.

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Change

We live in times of great change, ambiguity and uncertainty, as if on the edge of a precipice.

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