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by Erica Martin

Dusty books and echoes of parliamentarians' whispers might be all you expect to find in the Parliamentary Library at Old Parliament House in Canberra, but it's far more lively than that.

In fact, from March you're likely to get that strange feeling someone is watching you or feel eyes following you around the room, as the National Portrait Gallery moves into the refurbished library.

Andrew Sayers, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, is building the permanent collection which, in the early days, will be complemented by portraits on long-term loan from around Australia.

'The exhibition is intended as a history of Australian portraiture, showing what a portrait gallery can look like, and over time will contain an increasing number of works from our own collection,' Sayers says.

'We're acquiring portraits at a reasonable rate at the moment - we're looking at works by some major Australian photographers such as David Moore, Max Dupain and William Yang.'

The temporary exhibition space on either side of the main gallery will feature The Possibilities of Portraiture - an exhibition focusing on a range of historical and contemporary issues in portraiture.

Sayers sees portraiture going through something of a renaissance at the moment although it has always been a constant artistic presence.

'It's partly because in Australia we are very concerned with identity, and portraiture has a lot to do with identity - an important part of the art of making portraiture is to indicate where people are in relation to the rest of society,' he says.

'Also a portrait is a hybrid medium - you can't look at portraiture without seeing it on one level as an art object, and on another level as a person. This irreducible element in portraiture is its fascination - because you're looking at an artwork, and a person.'

The new exhibition will include several different approaches highlighting the many possible interpretations if the portrait.

'We are looking at the idea of a single subject who has been painted, drawn or photographed by a number of artists, and how much of the artist appears in a portrait, as well as the subject,' Sayers explains.

'The second thing we'll be looking at is the notion of portraits within portraits. The works feature mirrors and faces within unusual spaces - you can't quite work out whether it's a painting within a painting or a real person. And then there are portraits without any people in them at all and yet where a presence, usually of a deceased person, is very powerfully felt.'

The new exhibition will also include state-of-the-art contemporary works exploring video and holograms.

'One of the things I want people to say is, "We expected to see all sorts of treacly pictures of old politicians but it is much more exciting than that." Portraiture need not be stuffy at all,' says Sayers.

The National Portrait Gallery will also unveil the first four commissioned portraits of prominent Australians. The identity is being kept a surprise but Sayers promises an 'interesting' mix of people.

The opening of the new exhibition space promises to be just the start of the exciting days ahead for the National Portrait Gallery.

The National Portrait Gallery is located in Old Parliament House, Canberra as part of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Contact
Andrew Sayers, National Portrait Gallery 02 6270 8211 or email portrait.gallery@dcita.gov.au

• Document ID: 11503 |
• Last modified: 5 February 2008, 6:06pm