Yellow Peril comes out of the Vault for new exhibition

ONE of Melbourne’s most notorious art works will be the subject of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.

02/06/2003. Cars parked under the Yellow Peril. Digital image.

ONE of Melbourne’s most notorious art works will be the subject of a new exhibition.

Abstract sculpture Vault, which was infamously dubbed the Yellow Peril, was removed from the City Square in 1980 after only six months after a public outcry.

After a secret night operation, it was moved to Batman Park where it stood for 20 years before finally being relocated to the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Sturt St, South Melbourne.

The Yellow Peril’s controversial history will feature in the National Gallery of Victoria’s upcoming show Hard Edge: Abstract Sculpture 1960s-70s.

The moving of the Yellow Peril from Batman Park Melbourne in 2002.

Protesters next to the sculpture in 2000.

It will include the original model of the sculpture done by artist Ron Robertson-Swann, as well as a multimedia display of archival photos and newspaper articles tracing its tumultuous history.

NGV director Tony Ellwood said: “Hard Edge captures a defining moment for Australian sculpture when artists began to shift away from traditional carved stone, wood or bronze and move towards modern materials and techniques.”

“This new style was characterised by often highly polished and brightly coloured abstract forms.”

The free exhibition opens on February 13 at the NGV’s Ian Potter Centre and will run until July.

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