The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) announces the 2013 MCA Foyer commission by artist Guan Wei.
The first commission for this space was a vibrant abstract work titled Tango (2013) by Sydney- based artist Helen Eager.
Guan Wei’s new work The Journey to Australia (2013) is a figurative painting that references the MCA’s location at the site where the First Fleet came ashore on Gadigal land in 1788 and the artist’s experiences as an immigrant to Australia from China in 1989.
Guan Wei comments: ‘From a historical point of view, the MCA’s location at Circular Quay is a place where, in the past, many immigrants have landed – a place which links the past with the present, you with me, and Australia with the world.’
The work is also inspired by current debates about immigration and refugees in Australia; in particular the heated commentary that often surrounds the arrival of people to this country by boat. www.mca.com.au