Kaldor Public Art Projects
Kaldor Public Art Projects is an Australian arts organisation established in 1969 by John Kaldor AM. The organisation collaborates with groundbreaking international artists to create innovative, site-specific projects in public spaces. By bringing art to spaces outside of galleries and museums, Kaldor Public Art Projects has changed the landscape of contemporary art in Australia with inspiring projects that bring together art, creativity and education.
The organisation’s first project, in 1969 was Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Coast, which at the time was the largest single artwork ever made. By 2014, the organisation had brought 29 art projects to Australia, utilizing a variety of public spaces including Cockatoo Island, Old Melbourne Gaol, and Sydney Park Brickworks. Kaldor Public Art Projects has worked with international artists including Gilbert & George, Michael Landy, Jeff Koons, Bill Viola, Thomas Demand, John Baldessari and Tino Sehgal among others.
In 2013, Project 27 brought together 13 famous artists and more than 100 performers to present a ground breaking group exhibition of ‘living sculpture’ within 13 purpose-built rooms at Sydney’s Pier 2/3.
In 2014 Kaldor Public Art Projects launched their 45th Anniversary Project, YOUR VERY GOOD IDEA. For the first time, Kaldor Public Art Projects will be selecting an Australian artist to create an innovative, site-specific work especially for Sydney.
Kaldor Public Art Projects has been listed on the register of charitable organisations since 2004, and also contributes to the development of Australia’s cultural life through innovative education programs for primary, secondary and tertiary schools, as well as programs for the public.
Project History
Christo and Jeanne-Claude1969
Sydney Wrapped Coast, 28 October – 14 December, Little Bay Drawings and Collages, 22 October – 8 November, Central Street Gallery
Melbourne Wool Works, 1 – 30 November, National Gallery of Victoria
Harald Szeemann 1971
Artists – John Armstrong, Tony Bishop, Robert Boynes, Mike Brown (Melbourne), Gunter Christmann, Tony Coleing, Aleks Danko, Margaret Dodd, Neil Evans, Ross Grounds, Dale Hickey, Tim Johnson, Peter Kennedy, Warren Knight, Nigel Lendon, Ian Milliss, Ti Parks, Mike Parr, William Pidgeon, Brett Whiteley and Tony Wood (collaboration), Guy Stuart, Alec Tzannes,
Sydney, 29 April – 13 May, Bonython Gallery
Melbourne, 4 June – 4 July, National Gallery of Victoria
Gilbert & George 1973
The Singing Sculpture, The Shrubberies Number 1,The Shrubberies Number 2
Sydney, 16 – 21 August, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Melbourne, 29 August – 2 September, National Gallery of Victoria
Miralda 1973
Coloured Feast 18 September John Kaldor Fabricmaker showrooms, Sydney
Coloured Bread, 21 September – 4 October, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik 1976
22–26 March 1976, exhibition and performances: Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Adelaide Festival Theatre plaza; Adelaide Festival Theatre rooftop; Elder Park, Adelaide
1–11 April 1976, exhibition and performances: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Coventry Gallery, Sydney; Sydney Opera House forecourt
Sol LeWitt
Sydney All two part combinations of arcs from four corners, arcs from four corners, arcs from four sides, straight, not-straight & broken lines in four directions., March – July, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Melbourne Lines to points on a grid. On yellow: Lines from the center of the wall. On red: Lines from four sides. On blue: Lines from four corners. On black: Lines from four sides, four corners and the centre of the wall. March – April National Gallery of Victoria
Richard Long 1977
Broken Hill, A straight hundred mile walk in Australia and A line in Australia, December 1977
Melbourne Bushwood Circle, 8 December 1977 – 7 January 1978, National Gallery of Victoria
Sydney Stone Line, 15 December 1977 – 5 February 1978, Art Gallery of New South Wales
An Australian Accent 1984
Artists: Mike Parr, Imants Tillers, Ken Unsworth.
New York, 15 April – 10 June 1984, P.S.1
Washington D.C, 30 June – 26 August 1984, Corcoran Gallery of Art
Perth, 22 September – 11 November 1984, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Sydney, 1 December 1984 – 31 January 1985, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Christo and Jeanne-Claude 1990
Sydney, Wrapped Vestibule, Christo, 12 September – 25 November 1990, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Perth, Christo, 2 March – 14 April 1991, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Jeff Koons 1995
Puppy, 12 December 1995 – 17 March 1996, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Sol LeWitt 1998
Wall Pieces, 30 July – 29 November, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Vanessa Beecroft 1999
VB40, 2, 4 & 5 August, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Ugo Rondinone 2003
Sydney, Our Magic Hour, 15 June – 31 August 2003, Museum of Contemporary Art
Melbourne, Clockwork for Oracle, 28 January - 7 March 2004, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Barry McGee 2004
The stars were aligned…, Metropolitan Meat Market, Melbourne
Water Wall Mural, National Gallery of Victoria,
28 October – 5 December
Urs Fischer 2007
Cockatoo Island Installation, 20 April – 3 June, Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour
Gregor Schneider 2007
21 Beach Cells
Sydney, 28 September – 21 October 2007, Bondi Beach
Herzlia, Israel, 13 – 20 June 2009, Accadia Beach
17/ Bill Viola 2008
Fire Woman, Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), 9 April – 23 May, St Saviour’s Church, Redfern
Martin Boyce 2008
We Are Shipwrecked and Landlocked, 22 October – 30 November, Old Melbourne Gaol
Tatzu Nishi 2009
War and Peace and In Between, 2 October 2009 – 14 February 2010, Art Gallery Road, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Stephen Vitiello 2010
The Sound of Red Earth, 13 August – 12 September, Sydney Park Brickworks, St Peters
Bill Viola 2010
Fire Woman, Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), 8 – 23 October 2010, St Carthage’s Church, Melbourne
The Raft, 7 October 2010 – 20 February 2011, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne
Santiago Sierra 2010
7 Forms Measuring 600 X 60 X 60 cm. Constructed to be held horizontally to a wall., 20–28 November, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
John Baldessari 2011
Your Name in Lights, 8 – 30 January 2011, Australian Museum, William Street façade, Sydney
Your Name in Lights, 1 – 26 June 2011, Stedelijk Museum, with Holland Festival, Amsterdam
Michael Landy 2011
Acts of Kindness, 23 September – 23 October 2011, Installation in lower Martin Place, Sydney, and across 200 CBD sites
Thomas Demand 2012
The Dailies, 23 March – 22 April 2012, Commercial Travellers' Association, MLC Centre, Sydney City
Allora and Calzadilla 2012
' 'Stop, Repair, Prepare...' ' 16 November - 6 December 2012, Cowen Gallery, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
13 Rooms 2013
Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Klaus Biesenbach 11–21 April 2013, Pier 2/3 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney
Roman Ondák
Measuring the Universe, Swap, and Terrace, 10–24 January 2014, Parramatta Town Hall, Sydney
Tino Sehgal
This Is So Contemporary 6–23 February 2014, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Your very good idea
2014, Sydney. Applications open for Australian Artists
Education Projects
MOVE: Video art in schools
MOVE: Video art in schools was produced in partnership with the New South Wales Department of Education and is a collection of video art works distributed to secondary schools for use in the classroom. Twelve leading Australian artists were commissioned for this program providing an education edition of their work solely for use in schools. The works are supplied on DVD and are packaged together with support materials that provide information on the artists, their works and the context of video art making. Student activities are also included, providing avenues for participation and creative engagement.
MOVE: Video art in schools includes work by Daniel Crooks, Shaun Gladwell, The Kingpins, Todd McMillan, Jess MacNeil, Tracey Moffatt, TV Moore, Patricia Piccinini, David Rosetzky, Grant Stevens, John Tonkin and Daniel von Sturmer.
Provided free of charge to public secondary schools, the resource is now present in all states across Australia, in over 1800 schools, and has been Australia-wide since 2011.
MOVE Primary: Art in Motion
MOVE Primary: Art in Motion is Kaldor Public Art Project’s first art education project for primary school students throughout Australia, in partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Communities through its NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre.
Drawing on the success of MOVE: Video Art in Schools, this initiative is centred on video work from Shaun Gladwell, Jess MacNeil, Joan Ross, Grant Stevens and Daniel von Sturmer.
MOVE Hospitals
MOVE: Hospitals was introduced in 2012 in partnership with the Sydney Children’s Hospital Art Program. This educational program introduced digital art to hospital patients and visiting students. This initiative showcases digital work from artists such as Todd Fuller and Joan Ross.
Public Art: Teaching Excellence
Based on its new e5 instruction model for quality teaching, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has developed a Kindergarten to Year 6 art education resource based on ‘Public Art’ and, in particular, on the past Kaldor Public Art Projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Long and Jeff Koons.
The publication features past Kaldor Public Art Projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Long and Jeff Koons as a way of engaging students with contemporary art practice and in particular to explore ‘public art’. Public Art, Teaching Excellence, the first in a series of publications on professional learning, will be distributed to Victorian schools in 2011.
Art projects education kits
Produced by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, these Education notes for each Kaldor Public Art Project include the artist biography, project description, a thematic essay and quotes along with suggested issues for discussion and selected references.
References
Forbat, Sophie (ed). 40 Years: Kaldor Public Art Projects. Kaldor Public Art Projects, 2009.
Thomas, Daniel (ed). An Australian Accent. Three artists: Mike Parr, Imants Tillers, Ken Unsworth, exhibition catalogue, John Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 1984.
VB:40 Vanessa Beecroft, John Kaldor Art Project, exhibition brochure, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 1999.
Martin Boyce, exhibition brochure, Kaldor Public Art Projects, Melbourne 2008.
Christo: Wool Works, John Kaldor Art Project, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1969
Christo and Shunk-Kender. Christo: Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feat, Contemporary Art Lithographers, Minneapolis, 1969
Baume, Nicholas (ed). Christo: John Kaldor Art Project, exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, 1990
Christo: John Kaldor Art Project, education brochure, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney 1990.
Journey to Now: John Kaldor Art Projects and Collection, exhibition catalogue, John Kaldor Public Art Projects, Sydney, 2003.
Free, Adam. Urs Fischer, exhibition catalogue, Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 2007
Urs Fischer, exhibition brochure, Kaldor Public Art Projects, Sydney, 2007
Gilbert & George. George and Gilbert, the living sculptures, London: catalogue for their 1973 Australian visit, artists book, John Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney, 1973
Baume, Nicholas. From Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Jeff Koons: John Kaldor Art Projects & Collection, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 1995.
Baume, Nicholas. Jeff Koons: John Kaldor Art Project, exhibition brochure, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 1995.
LeWitt, Sol. Wall drawings, artists book, John Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 1977.
Long, Richard. A straight hundred mile walk in Australia: a walk along a line, returning to the same campsite each night, artists book, John Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 1978.
Gellatly, Kelly. Barry McGee, exhibition catalogue, Kaldor Public Art Projects, Melbourne 2004.
Tatzu Nishi: war and peace and in between, exhibition brochure, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, 2009
Engberg, Julianna. Ugo Rondinone: clockwork for oracle, exhibition catalogue, Australian Centre for Contemporary art, Melbourne 2004.
Gregor Schneider, exhibition brochure, Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 2008.
Szeemann, Harald. I want to leave a nice well-done child here, exhibition catalogue, John Kaldor Art Projects, Sydney 1971.
The Tristan Project, exhibition brochure, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2008.