‘Inhabitant’ Queens Wharf Brisbane Commission

Tony Albert’s monumental 15-metre-long floating botanical sculpture, ‘Inhabitant’, has been announced as a major public artwork for the transformational Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane. The striking new work featuring Australian flora will greet visitors at the entrance of Brisbane’s new entertainment precinct.

Liz Nowell, Director of the Institute of Modern Art and member of the Specialist Arts Advisory panel curating the comprehensive collection of artworks for the precinct shares, ‘Tony Albert is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, and his international career began right here in Brisbane. It seems fitting that such a significant work, by an artist who is so embedded in this city should take pride of place in Queen’s Wharf Brisbane. Our cities and towns are filled with bronze monuments, honouring colonial figures that many of us would not be familiar with, it’s critical that these statues are counterbalanced with public art from First Nations people. Tony’s creation is visually arresting as an homage to the Australian landscape, but also as an evolution of his longstanding artistic interest in the cultural misrepresentation of Aboriginal people.’

Pictured: Tony Albert developing his work @peridesartprojectsin Brisbane

Photography by Josef Ruckli