BRISBANE.-Two important exhibitions have turned the spotlight on contemporary Chinese art at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA).

Arts Minister Rod Welford said The China Project: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection and Zhang Xiaogang: Shadows in the Soul, showcase the Gallery’s remarkable collection of contemporary art for the first time.

“China’s economic development, the Olympics and the international popularity of its contemporary art, have been the focus of world attention in recent times,” Mr Welford said.

“The Queensland Art Gallery is recognised as an international leader in contemporary Chinese art and has been building its collection for almost two decades, from the inception of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in the early 1990s.

“The China Project: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection present more that 100 works collected by the Gallery and Zhang Xiaogang: Shadows in the Soul is this leading artist’s first major solo exhibition in Australia.

Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said The China Project features installations, painting, sculpture and video installation by over 40 of China’s foremost contemporary artists.

“Highlights are Xu Bing’s ‘Book from the sky’, a spectacular gunpowder drawing by Cai Guo Qiang and more than 30 new bronze busts on loan from artist Ah Xian that are on display in Australia for the first time,” Mr Ellwood said.

“Zhang Xiaogang: Shadows in the Soul premieres the artist’s most recent work in sculpture and photography and features 50 works spanning three decades of the artist’s practice.”

The two exhibitions are complemented by William Yang, an exhibition featuring two new photographic installations by Australian photographer and performance artist William Yang, specially configured for GoMA’s entrance space.

All three exhibitions will be on display at GoMA through 28 June 2009.