Until then artists had flourished in Mackay, but Townsville and Cairns were perceived to be the main bases for the creative arts in North Queensland. Both Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville and Cairns Regional Art Gallery worked to promote regional arts and to bring to the community works of significance from national and international artists.
A public gallery must have a relevant collection on which to base its future development and Mackay Regional Council Collection was started in the late 1980s by the Mackay City Library.
Irish/Australian Tate Adams donated his personal collection to Artspace in 2002 when he was 80 years old and embarking on another phase of a remarkable life.
Adams was already recognised as a distinguished printmaker and teacher when he and George Baldessin founded Lyre Bird Press in Melbourne in 1977, after the Crossley Gallery and Print Workshop, also founded by Adams, closed.
Although George Baldessin died a year after the founding of the press, he is still recognized as one of Australia’s greatest printmakers.
For the following twelve years Lyre Bird Press was a hot topic among aspiring printmakers and the source of great interest among Australian artists and collectors and influenced the development of the artist book as an art form in this country.
Among the early works published by Lyre Bird was the 1981 Diary of a Vintage by Tate Adams, and John Brack’s Nudes in 1982.
In his mid-60s Adams went to Broome in Western Australia. While there he produced a series of prints that reflected the remnants of the pearling industry on which Broome’s original wealth depended. A more fluid style is obvious in this collection of prints and it heralds Adams’ later semi abstract works.
The publication of those prints in 1989 in Port of Pearls, coincided with Adams’ move to Townsville and the beginning of his collaboration with artist Ron McBurnie.
After a three year hiatus Lyre Bird went back into production from its new North Queensland base. The Mackay Regional Library purchased a copy of every book produced by Lyre Bird until Tate Adams closed the press in 2002.
Adams gifted his personal archives to Mackay City Council to celebrate the gallery’s opening. Among this collection of 216 prints and drawings, 20 artist books, original wood blocks, catalogues and reference material, are the works previously mentioned.
The Tate Adams' collection is now on a rotating display in the Cox Rayner Gallery at Artspace. The collection provides a great opportunity for the visitor to engage with an engrossing art form and with a part of Australian art history.
In one of those serendipitous moments that often occur in the Australian creative space Melbourne based artist Ted May’s perceptive and witty portrait of Tate Adams won the prestigious Xstrata Percival Portrait Award in 2010.
As well as the Tate Adams’ Collection, artists’ books are the focus for Artspace which holds the third largest collection in Australia after the National Gallery of Australia and the State Library of Queensland.
The National Artists’ Books Award (The Libris Awards) was established in Mackay in 2006 and will be held in 2013 to celebrate the gallery’s 10th anniversary.
Claire Wood
Reviewer
In The Atmosphere
Email: InTheAtmosphere@gmail.com
See also: Just Claire Wood, longlines
27th May 2012
In The Atmosphere
Email: InTheAtmosphere@gmail.com
See also: Just Claire Wood, longlines
27th May 2012
Artspace Mackay is located in the Civic Centre Precinct, Gordon Street, Mackay, QLD 4740. Entry is free and the opening hours are Monday – Closed, Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday – closed. Details of their exhibitions, collections and events can be viewed at http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is located on the corner of Denham and Flinders Streets, in the city centre. Entry is free and the gallery is open Monday - Friday: 10am - 5pm, Saturday - Sunday: 10am - 2pm. Details of their exhibitions, collections and events can be viewed at http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/facilities/galleries/perctucker/Pages/default.aspx
