Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH gallery staff and politicians are mulling over the fallout from the WA art gallery’s dramatic cancellation of its three remaining shows from the Museum of Modern Art in New York exhibition.

The six-exhibition modern masterpieces series—which has already featured art legends Van Gogh, Picasso and Salvador Dali—was cut short when rising insurance costs and falling revenue from disappointing ticket sales made it commercially untenable.

Almost a quarter-of-a-million people viewed 400 artworks shipped in from NYC, but it was not enough to green-light the final three shows.

Turner Galleries director Helen Turner says Perth’s art-loving public need to step up.

“The state gallery is presenting wonderful exhibitions and I am sure it will find some exciting replacement shows,” she says.

“It will be up to the Perth public to step up and attend those exhibitions and create the cultural vibrancy that we all speak of and desire for Perth.

“Maybe the viewing public became complacent with a promise of six shows in a row.

“Maybe there isn’t the critical mass that supports such events with a population around 2.5 million in Perth.

“Maybe the state government needs to offer more support to such events.”

WA arts minister John Day says the government ploughed more than $12 million into the modern masterpieces exhibition and refused to prop up the remaining shows.

According to the WA art gallery, 60 per cent of visitors to the exhibitions were new or had not visited the gallery in three years.

PICA curator Leigh Robb says other galleries in the Perth Cultural Centre have benefited from the extra visitors that attended the MoMA shows.

“It definitely gave the area a boost and we noticed an upturn in visitors numbers,” she says.

“I think we should focus on the positives: We had three great shows and this whole situation has provided a talking point about the future direction of arts and culture in WA. We need to regroup and ask ourselves: Right, what did we learn and where do we go from here?”

Ms Robb adds Perth’s isolated location makes shipping and insurance more expensive.

“Having organised a few shows, I know that shipping and insurance costs are always that bit higher because we are so far away from everyone.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK