Wonderstruck: an art exhibition that will make even weary adults feel like kids again
Wonderstruck, a major and free exhibition at Queensland's Gallery of Modern Art in Meanjin/Brisbane, is an exploration of wonder that traverses the human experience, the natural world and the intangible divine.
Wonder is an exquisite feeling that has been shown to have a powerful impact on our happiness and wellbeing. It is a salve for stress and loneliness, one that can bring a sense of perspective and curiosity.
Wonderstruck aims to help kids and adults alike get into that state. It is a counterweight to the heaviness of the world – though it does make for a slightly surreal experience as headlines scream of war. But for co-curators Tasmin Cull and Laura Mudge, this is precisely the kind of moment we need to feel wonder most.
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'I would be so bold as to say it matters more than ever, because it's about engaging with the very essence of what it means to be alive,' Cull says.
'Experiencing wonder is a way to empathise with the shared human experience, and with the planet.'
Through this lens, Wonderstruck is not just a break from reality, but a reminder of what's at stake.
The exhibition includes more than 100 works drawn from Qagoma's collection, from large-scale installations to small treasures. It is a visual feast – bright, bold and eclectic – with a focus on crowd-pleasers and interaction. Visitors may recognise the monumental hyper-realistic sculptures of Patricia Piccinini and Ron Mueck, or Michael Parekōwhai's gravity-defying sculpture of a seal balancing a piano on its nose.
Beyond the massive box arch – Slovenian artist Tobias Putrih's Connection – the gallery explodes in colour, texture and pattern, evoking a childhood sense of play and imagination. A peek through the windows of Pip & Pop's Rainbow Bridge reveals miniature fantasy worlds where glittering pipe cleaners burst into bloom.
The show's spirit of curiosity and experimentation extends to the creative process behind the works; to create her lively sculpture Unnameable, Lindy Lee hurled molten lead into cold custard. One of the resulting shapes was 3D-scanned to create a scaled-up mould, which was used to cast the final bronze piece.
The exhibition also features large-scale abstract paintings created by three students from Brisbane state high school during a three-day workshop with artist Gemma Smith. At the end of each session, they cleaned their brushes on to a canvas; the outcome, Leftovers, is a vivid exploration of colour and process, hung as the final work in the series.
Exhibitions usually instruct people not to touch the art but Wonderstruck features several signs letting you know when it's OK to get 'hands on' – great news for younger audiences.
Yayoi Kusama's The Obliteration Room will undoubtedly be a crowd favourite, given the success of her recent solo show at the National Gallery of Victoria, which was the highest attended ticketed art exhibition in Australian history.
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The Obliteration Room was first created as a collaboration between the Japanese artist and the Queensland Art Gallery; here the space has been updated to look like a Queenslander-style home. Over the next few months, visitors will transform the stark white space by plastering its surfaces with colourful dot stickers; the first will be placed by children from a local hospital.
Visitors can also craft miniature aeroplanes for Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan's ongoing installation In-flight (Project: Another Country), dance beneath a disco ball in Jemima Wyman's Pattern Bandits, and create their own geometric designs in Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian's Patterns of Infinity interactive.
Alongside the fun, Wonderstruck invites us to contemplate the possibility for wonder that can be found within ordinary moments and objects, such as Notice – Forest by Yuken Teruya, who transformed everyday paper shopping bags into delicate sculptures housing hand-cut trees. It is one of many works in Wonderstruck that rewards you for slowing down and looking closer.
Nature's capacity to fill us with wonder forms one of the exhibition's six chapters: fleeting moments of beauty are captured in Tim Maguire's Trees and Snow triptych and Sandra Selig's Webs From My Garden series, and one wall is dedicated to works by artists from central Australia, including Arrernte painter Albert Namatjira. These vibrant watercolours are a stunning reminder of the beauty of the outback; and a celebration of First Nations deep and unbroken connection to Country.
Wonderstruck also ventures into the divine: a highlight is Kwaia koromb, a small spirit house created by Papua New Guinea-based Kwoma Arts Collective artists Simon Goiyap, Anton Waiawas, Kevin Apsepa, Terry Pakiey, Nelson Makamoi, Jamie Jimok and Rex Maukos. More than just a physical structure, these boldly painted and carved spaces hold deep cultural significance and are believed to be the dwelling place of spirits, ancestors, and deities. Amid the maximalism of Wonderstruck, Kwaia koromb offers a place for quiet reflection.
There is also something spiritual in Sandra Selig's breathtaking installation mid-air, featuring small styrofoam balls beaded on to hundreds of metres of delicate white thread. From various perspectives, the balls appear to hover in space; you can, if only momentarily, feel that you are also floating, effortlessly, in light.
The exhibition includes work by more than 60 artists: Ah Xian, Gordon Hookey, Madeleine Kelly, Yvonne Koolmatrie, Judy Watson, and Louise Weaver among them. It is a large show, spanning several rooms on the gallery's expansive ground floor; the works are thoughtfully spaced so, even during busy times, you can get up close.
Wonderstruck is a welcome reprieve from reality, and a reminder that wonder isn't confined to galleries, or even art – it's also waiting for us in small everyday moments. The point isn't to leave the ordinary behind – it's to return to it with new eyes.
Wonderstruck is open at Qagoma, Brisbane until 6 October; entry is free.
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(Jim Farber) Read the full review Starring: Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks Directed by: Albert Brooks Why our writer loves it: 'Life-affirming' is perhaps an overused adjective, but few movies have successfully illuminated the human condition as well as this one. Fear is commonplace in our daily lives, but Albert Brooks's film might hold the key to ridding the worries of anxiety-ridden people such as myself. As the new year often brings about feelings of regret and unease, Defending Your Life is the warmest hug you can receive.' (Oliver Macnaughton) Defending Your Life is available to rent digitally in the US and the UK Read the full review Starring: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant Directed by: Roger Michell Why our writer loves it: 'What is so wonderful about the film is how effortless it all seems. The story isn't complex; there are no gunfights or CGI raccoons; the greatest jeopardy in the film involves Grant having to catch Roberts before she goes back to America – a problem that reads as plausibly insurmountable in 1999 but today would be remedied with a few WhatsApps. But, despite the illusion of effortlessness, getting everything right in this way is deceptively tricky. Has a single romcom ever managed to marry all of the necessary elements – cast, script, timing, an intangible magic – so perfectly? (No. The answer is no.)' (Ralph Jones) Notting Hill is available on Netflix in the US and Channel 4 in the UK Read the full review Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine Directed by: Jonathan Demme Why our writer loves it: The movie is a long list of quirky pleasures, including a 'starter kit of premium 80s college rock (New Order, Pixies, the Feelies), well-placed family dog reaction shots, and an FBI agent who dresses himself like Wallace in the Wallace & Gromit shorts. Few of the laughs in the film feel like punchlines or payoffs to some heavily orchestrated joke. Demme's approach is more low-key and breezy, cruising confidently on the assumption that his DayGlo gangland will be fun enough without him having to push too hard. He catches a rhythm and does the mambo Italiano. It feels like your feet never touch the floor.' (Scott Tobias) Married to the Mob is available on Hoopla, Kanopy and Pluto in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK Read the full review Starring: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker Directed by: Brett Ratner Why our writer loves it: 'Rush Hour taps into something that stirred my heart then and now: an ease settles into the two actors, Chan and Tucker's joviality feeling so genuine that the east-meets-west tropes evolve into characters who have something real at stake, and who are also having fun.' (Tammy Tarng) Rush Hour is available on Netflix in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK Read the full review Starring: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short Directed by: Charles Shyer Why our writer loves it: 'Why do I come back to this film again and again? As a girl and younger woman I was emphatically against marriage (though I've since softened) and watched it more as a comedy horror than anything aspirational. The only aspect of the Bankses' life I'd want is the kitchen. And yet watching Franck and the family put on their ridiculous show makes me want to be part of it. I love ritual, and ceremony, and Steve Martin, and Martin Short, and Diane Keaton.' (Laura Snapes) Where to watch: Father of the Bride is available on Hulu and Disney+ in the US and on Disney+ in the UK and Australia Read the full review Starring: James Woods and Louis Gossett Jr Directed by: Michael Ritchie Why our writer loves it: 'Diggstown is the perfect feelgood movie – a breezy but exciting genre mashup with enough of a hangout vibe that you can have it on in the background, but also enough stakes that you will inevitably end up giving it your full attention.' (Zach Vasquez) Where to watch: Diggstown is available on Amazon Prime Read the full review Starring: Cher and Christina Aguilera Directed by: Steve Antin Why our writer loves it: 'Many of those who panned Burlesque on its release would feel punished by this cosmically appointed choice of comfort movie. A sequined patchwork quilt of all manner of backstage musicals and melodramas from various eras of Hollywood – starring, in a naked reach for cross-generational gay fandom, dual divas Christina Aguilera and Cher – the film inspired critical comparisons to A Star is Born, Cabaret and Showgirls, most of them unflattering. It made $90m at the global box office: not a flop but not a palpable hit either, least of all for a film where the feather budget alone could have funded a modest indie drama. Antin, whose long but scattered pre-Burlesque career ran the gamut from acting to screenwriting to stunt work to producing Pussycat Dolls reality shows, hasn't directed another film since. The world, by and large, hasn't mourned.' (Guy Lodge) Where to watch: Burlesque is available to watch on Netflix in the US, on Sky Cinema in the UK and ABC iView and Amazon Prime in Australia Read the full review Starring: Chris Rock and Bernie Mac Directed by: Chris Rock Why our writer loves it: 'I've come back to this film so many times after the election for laughs, only to wind up seeing the whole picture as a clearer allegory for Kamala Harris's defeat than Obama's victory. Like Harris, [Chris Rock starring as Mays Gilliam, a small-time politician turned presidential hopeful] was a party sacrifice, offered up to make a certain loss look less bad on the cards, thrown into the fray at the 11th hour, plugged into a humming campaign apparatus, and touted as a history maker. It really makes you think about how close comedy is to horror.' (Andrew Lawrence) Where to watch: Head of State is available to stream in the US on Freevee, Tubi, Paramount+ and MGM+, in the UK on Paramount+ and on Amazon Prime in Australia Read the full review Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon and Paul Bettany Directed by: Brian Helgeland Why our writer loves it: 'To me, watching a feelgood film is an intensely nostalgic exercise. That's because whenever a film is special or timely enough to take up lodging in your heart, rewatching it is also an act of remembering an old version of yourself. A Knight's Tale is shaded by the genuine sadness of Ledger's death only seven years after its release, but when I watch it I also remember the way it used to make me feel, as a girl who loved the jousting because her older brother did, all the while secretly cherishing an action film for being so brazenly sentimental.' (Francesca Carington) Where to watch: A Knight's Tale is available on Amazon Prime in the US and available to rent digitally in the UK and Australia Read the full review Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly Directed by: Robert Rodriguez Why our writer loves it: 'My feelgood movie for when humanity lets me down is Alita: Battle Angel, a movie where much of humanity hangs out in a city-sized junkpile. And though I don't press play with this aspect particularly in mind, it's nice to imagine a future where things have gone terribly wrong (that just seems realistic at this point) yet unforeseen triumphs still emerge from the tech-nightmare garbage heap. There are plenty of more time-honored films that take a more direct path to temporary bliss, including sci-fi movies better-equipped to restore faith in humanity.' (Jesse Hassenger) Where to watch: Alita: Battle Angel is available to watch on Hulu in the US, on Netflix and Disney+ in the UK and on Disney+ in Australia Read the full review Starring: Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, Pamela Brown Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Why our writer loves it: 'I Know Where I'm Going! offers up such portentous moments of mystical and romantic significance lightly, alongside comical asides and colourful eccentricity. It's a disarming strategy, which tends to leave the audience every bit as bewitched as (the film's main character) Joan. In this corner of the universe, anything might be possible, even an ancient curse.' (Pamela Hutchinson) Read the full review for I Know Where I'm Going! Where to watch: I Know Where I'm Going! is available to watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime and the Criterion Channel in the US and is available to rent digitally Australia and in the UK and watch on BBC iPlayer Read the full review
