Gallery 11 | Admission: Free
The
most significant addition to the Gallery’s contemporary art collection in recent times is Patricia
Piccinini’s tour de force,
Big mother, which forms the central focus of a dramatic new display in gallery 11.
Piccinini’s sculptures
are among the most acclaimed works in the contemporary art arena. She is best known for using ideas
of bioengineering to explore what it means to be human in an age where technology is redefining
species. The life-like form of
Big mother represents a genetically engineered primate wet nurse, and was inspired by a
true story based on a female baboon whose baby died while still nursing. Overwhelmed by grief, the
primate mother took a human child as a substitute. (The child was recovered unharmed.)
The
combined power of the realism and poignancy of this piece makes this installation an experience not
to be missed.
detail: Patricia PICCININI, Australia, born 1965,
Big mother, 2005, Melbourne, silicone, fibreglass, leather, human hair, 175.0 cm (high),
Gift of the Art Gallery of South Australia Contemporary Collectors, S. Angelakis, John Ayers, Candy
Bennett, Cherise Conrick, James Darling AM and Lesley Forwood, Richard Frolich, Frances Gerard,
Patricia, Grattan French, Stephanie Grose, Gryphon Partners Advisory, Janet Hayes, Ulrike Klein,
Edwina Lehmann, Ian Little, David and Pam McKee, Dr Peter McEvoy, Hugo and Brooke Michell, Jane
Michell, Paul Taliangis, Michael and Tracey Whiting and anonymous donors 2010, Art Gallery of South
Australia, Adelaide. Courtesy of the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Tolarno Galleries,
Melbourne, Haunch of Venison, New York, and Byblos Art Gallery, Verona. Bessie DAVIDSON, Australia,
1879 - 1965,
Mother and child, 1914, Medindie, Adelaide, oil on canvas, 91.5 x 73.5 cm. Gift of
Margaret (Mrs Klasen) and Sybil de Rose 1992. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
