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 Queensland Art Gallery Deputy Directory ANDREW
CLARK tells JODY MACGREGOR about the latest event in the UP LATE series.
If you’ve enjoyed any of the Up Late
programs of art and music of a Friday night – whether Warhol, Picasso or
Optimism – then Andrew Clark is the man you should thank. The program was his
brainchild, a sneaky way to draw the young folk back into art galleries by
filling them with awesome musicians. “We would get visitors in a school group and
we’d get them when they were over 40, but we wouldn’t really get them in
between,” says Clark.
“What we do is work with some of the
gallery’s younger staff to actually come up with some of the programming ideas.
Seeing that it’s essentially their peer group that we’re trying trying to
attract we thought we’d work with them to come up with the concept. We had a
lot of debate even around which night of the week to hold it on. We were very
much steered by them that they felt that in Brisbane traditionally, as far as
their peer group was concerned, Friday night was the best night to do this on
and it’s proved really successful. I mean we’re getting between 500 and 1000
people on a Friday night during the program time, sometimes more depending on
what the music might be or the speaker might be.”
The latest program is a world-exclusive,
presenting paintings by turn-of-the-century American realists and
impressionists from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art alongside those of
Australians who were influenced by the two very different movements. On the
musical side are guests including Dave Graney, Kim Salmon, Holly Throsby, Ben
Salter from The Gin Club and Kate Jacobson from Texas Tea. There’s definitely
an emphasis on smaller groups rather than big bands this time. “We’ve really
tried to keep the theme to solo, duo, trio – trying not to have too many
different sounds in that space. Trying to make it a more intimate experience,
almost like a New York club type experience I think. We’re kicking the evening
off with a local DJ, Archie Jacobson, who basically is going to DJ vinyl jazz –
things like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, those things – so when you come in
there’ll be a DJ on the stage and that’ll be the first part of the evening.
View the exhibition, listen to the DJ, have a drink and then we’ll go on to the
performers.”
The Met Up Late marks the first occasion
that it’s left the Gallery of Modern Art and will be hosted instead at South
Bank’s Queensland Art Gallery, which has been refurbished for the event. “We’re
going to have a stage, the iconic Watermall stage, where the water is inside
the gallery. We’re building a floating stage out there. We’re going to have the
performers perform on that stage, so really it should be a different experience
to what you get at GoMA, but equally as magical I hope.”
With over 70 paintings on display, Clark’s
hard pressed to choose favourites and the same goes for the impressive line-up
of musicians. “I am a huge fan of The Gin Club myself, I am looking forward to
that,” he confesses. “I’m pretty keen on Holly Throsby and just for old time’s
sake I think Don Walker will deliver something pretty good.”
THE MET
UP LATE kicks off with Dave Graney and Kim Salmon on Friday Aug 31, then
continues every Friday night until the special closing performance (line-up
still a secret) on Friday Sep 18. www.qag.qld.gov.au
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