Gold Coast art gallery: Andy Warhol features in HOTA Gallery’s incredible first year program

The Gold Coast has secured the world premiere of an art exhibition featuring the works of iconic artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

THE Gold Coast has secured the world premiere of an art exhibition featuring the works of iconic artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

In a major coup for the new Home of the Arts Gallery, the Contemporary Masters from New York exhibition will bring to Australia for the first time 70 pieces from the collection of Jose Mugrabi, the New York-based Israeli businessman, who is the world’s leading Warhol collector.

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The works of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat will be featured in the HOTA Gallery.

Mr Mugrabi’s collection, which includes more than 800 Warhols, is held in storage in Switzerland and New Jersey, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now the Gold Coast will get to show the selected pieces of as part of the blockbuster first year program at the $60.5 million HOTA gallery, which will open on April 10.

Mayor Tom Tate said council had high hopes for the gallery to become a major tourist attraction.

Mayor Tom Tate. Picture: Jerad Williams

“On April 10, our cultural storybook opens to the world when the gallery takes centre stage,” he said.

“In 2012, I laid out a vision for an arts and cultural heartland in our city and I am delighted that councillors, and the wider community, have embraced that vision.

“When the gallery opens, we expect the annual visitation to HOTA to exceed one million people - That’s one million selfies and one million fresh eyes on the largest regional gallery in the southern hemisphere. Bring it on.’’

A “dynamic program of world premiere international exhibitions, Australian exclusives and new commission” will be hosted inside the six-storey Bundall gallery during its first year.

The new HOTA gallery building stands out from its surroundings at Bundall, and the new rooftop bar is an added twist to the colourful landmark. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Its inaugural exhibition, Solid Gold: Artists from Paradise will run from April until June and featured new commissions from both emerging and established Australian artists who have a connection to the region, including Hiromi Tango, Michael Candy, Abbey McCulloch, Samuel Leighton-Dore and Libby Harward.

The gallery's second exhibit, Lyrical Landscapes: The Art of William Robinson, will run from July 24 to October 3.

Curated by former Governor General Dame Quentin Bryce, it will be the first time Robinson’s entire Creation series, produced over a 16-year period, will be presented together.

The Mugrabi collection will open on November 13 and run until February 27, 2022

Developed by HOTA gallery director Tracy Cooper-Lavery, it will feature works from Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring, Richard Prince and Jeff Koons.

HOTA CEO Criena Gehrke. Picture Glenn Hampson

HOTA chief executive Criena Gehrke described the Contemporary Masters from New York exhibit as featuring “one of the best private collections in the world”.

She said the locally crafted program reflected the Gold Coast and “unapologetically” showed the local talent.

“I have never been more excited about anything in my whole life because this is an exceptional program which have put together which reflects the ambition and boldness of this gallery,” she said.

“The fact we have done this during a pandemic is extraordinary and the great thing about our program is that, like the Gold Coast, we are not bound by either tradition or expectation.”

Artist Jeff Koons’ work will be hosted at the gallery.

But the gallery is just the beginning, with the Gold Coast City Council now investigating an expansion of the cultural precinct beyond Evandale to encapsulate Chevron Island and Surfers Paradise.

Cr Tate said the region would become a “cultural corridor” by the 2030s.

“The beauty of our cultural precinct is that it will continue to evolve over the next decade or more and the key to that evolution is accessibility.

What the gallery’s interior will look like. Supplied by Gold Coast City Council

“We have already seen a huge spike in numbers with the green bridge opening and the vision of a cultural corridor - from Surfers Paradise, through the Chevron precinct and on to HOTA via the green bridge or ferry - remains the focus.

“The divisional councillor, Darren Taylor, is eager to promote every opportunity in this space so visitors can enjoy the restaurants and bars along the corridor, before arriving at Australia’s trendiest, quirkiest cultural precinct.

“From an economic point of view, we are investing $70 million in the arts and culture space this financial year alone. Cultural tourism from within Queensland, interstate and overseas will be a key driver for jobs in our city for decades to come.’’

Originally published as Gold Coast art gallery: Andy Warhol features in HOTA Gallery’s incredible first year program