Australia's largest regional art gallery will open its doors on the Gold Coast this weekend, showcasing never-before-seen acquisitions from its $32 million collection.
"We've really put a line, literally, in the sand and said that we are now a place about art and culture," said Tracey Cooper-Lavery, director of the HOTA Gallery.
Designs for the $60.5 million HOTA (pronounced hotter) Gallery were first sought in 2013 to replace the original Gold Coast City Art Gallery, built in 1986.
"Even from the time it opened it was too small," Ms Cooper-Lavery said of the former gallery.
The HOTA Collection was established in 1968 and houses more than 4,400 artworks — only three per cent of which can be on display across four new exhibition spaces.
Award-winning artists included in the inaugural hang include Ben Quilty, whose piece Sarah Island, Tasmania, will be exhibited as part of the collection for the first time.
Gallery CEO Criena Gehrke said the inclusion of such pieces was a "tear down the cheek" moment.
"Those works have deserved this home for their entire lives and they just look so incredible in those exhibition spaces."
The $1 million signature piece that almost never was
The centrepiece of the HOTA Collection, The Rainforest by William Robinson, won the 1991 Wynne Prize — the landscape art equivalent of the Archibald Prize.
"In our midst we had this nationally known, very important artist living locally (at Springbrook) so it seemed like a great opportunity to acquire a work," said Ms Cooper-Lavery.
"In 1991, when inaugural director Fran Cummings looked to acquire the painting it was valued at $80,000."
A local campaign to stop the city council spending ratepayer funds on the work put an end to the purchase and it was only secured after a public fundraising effort.
"We wouldn't be standing in this building and the design of this building because the architects have used this work; the painting has inspired the building."
More women artists, more Indigenous work
Forty-six per cent of the HOTA Collection is produced by female artists, a ratio unheard of in many collections.
"For a long time, we've been supporting women artists," Ms Cooper-Lavery said.
"We've got one of the largest collections of Indigenous artists in regional Australia, if not the largest," Ms Cooper-Lavery said.
"We're very focused on acquiring Queensland Indigenous artists. Hopefully down the track that will be something people say we've done really well too."
Australian exclusive private collection
Contemporary Masters from New York: Art from the Mugrabi Collection, which includes the single largest collection of Andy Warhol pieces globally, will have its world premiere at HOTA Gallery in November — an Australian exclusive.
"But also we are forever committed to showcasing locals because it's part of who we are, the home of the arts."
Gold Coast-raised Elliot Bastianon, currently featured in the NGV Triennial, is one of 19 local artists commissioned to produce new works in the gallery's opening exhibition.
He said he felt "incredibly humbled and lucky to be a part of the inaugural show".
