Set painters preparing galleries for the Drama and Desire exhibition.
It’s a busy time at the AGO! Staff are putting the finishing touches to plans for our summer exhibition, Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre. The planning team has conceived a whole range of new and exciting ways of bringing the show to life.
The AGO has hired Opera Atelier’s acclaimed set designer Gerard Gauci to design the exhibition. Visitors will feel themselves transported back to the 18th century as they enter the exhibition through elaborately painted trompe l’oeil draperies and arches. Gerard has also recreated an intimate corner of the Paris Opera to house a dazzling selection of Degas’s ballet paintings. The room will feature red velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers and a plush Victorian banquette. You’ll want to relax, settle in and enjoy French ballet music, typical of the period, piped into the space.
Designs are overlaid with a grid, which is then replicated at full-size. The artwork is first drawn-in with chalk, then painted.
Installation plans for the ten Drama and Desire galleries have been finalized. New walls are being built; colours have been chosen for the walls; shipping arrangements for the works of art (mostly coming from Europe) are being negotiated; and posters are going up.
Over the next three weeks visit the Gelber Gallery on the AGO’s main floor and check out progress on Gerard Gauci’s stage flats for the show. Four painters – Richard Mongiat, Benjamin Oakley, Elizabeth Bailey and Karol Antkowiak are applying their talents to transforming particleboard into elaborate red velvet drapes and stone columns. It’s a magical moment.
Stay tuned. There’s more to come!