The National Gallery of Australia’s main entrance is set to be transformed by an immersive, giant stainless steel public sculpture by Australian artist Lindy Lee titled the Ouroboros.
With a practice spanning more than four decades, Lee will create a destination work for the National Gallery, marking 40 years since its official opening in 2022.
Commissioned for the National Gallery of Australia’s 40th anniversary, the Ouroboros will be constructed from mirror polished stainless steel, around four metres high and weighing approximately 13 tonnes.
Based on the ancient symbol of a snake eating its tail, people will be able enter the ‘mouth’ and walk into the curved space to experience darkness that is illuminated by light beams emanating from the hundreds of thousands of perforations on its surface.
With a total budget of $14million, it will be the biggest investment in a work by the Gallery and will be funded through the National Gallery’s Collection Development Fund.
Slated for completion by 2024, the Ouroboros will be a sustainable sculpture – incorporating recycled materials, maximising renewable energy, and work to minimise its carbon impact, helping make it one of Australia’s first sustainable works of public art.
The proposed work will feature at the National Gallery’s main entrance, at the corner of King Edward Terrace and Parkes Place East in the Canberra suburb of Parkes and will be accessible day and night.
It will be the first commission for the National Gallery’s Sculpture Garden since the opening of James Turrell’s Skyspace Within without in 2010 and forms part of the National Gallery’s plan to renew the gardens, which were established 40 years ago.
Lee said the work will become a beacon for the Gallery, daytime or night-time, pulsing with light and energy.
During the day its highly polished mirror surface will reflect the outside world, while at night the Ouroboros will be lit internally, returning its light to the world.
“The Ouroboros is symbolic of repetition and renewal, of the abundance of cyclical time, eternal flow, unity of the beginning and the end, transformation and alchemy,” Lee said.
“It is a dance between something that is solid and something that is just drifting off into stardust.”
Director Nick Mitzevich said Lee’s bold, experiential work is a signature project for the National Gallery as it looks to the future.
“This commission represents a defining moment in our history and aligns with our mission to reflect and respond to contemporary Australia,“ he said.
The next milestone for the project is seeking National Capital Authority approval for the works, which will begin this month.
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
For more entertainment:
