A Huge Solo Exhibition by Skywhale Artist Patricia Piccinini Is Coming to Brisbane's GOMA

It has been four years since The Skywhale first floated across Australia's skies, soaring through the air with its bulbous body and hanging breasts, and making every other hot air balloon look boring in the process. Come 2018 at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art, it'll get a sequel of sorts, with Aussie artist Patricia Piccinini creating a new, large-scale inflatable sculpture as part of her massive solo exhibition, Patricia Piccinini: Curious Affection.

The piece will be suspended in GOMA's atrium, but, just as The Skywhale is only one of Piccinini's pieces, it'll form just one part of her huge Brissie showcase. In an Australian exclusive, Curious Affection will boast more than 50 new and recent works when it takes over the ground floor of the gallery from 24 March to 5 August.

With the Aussie artist known for blending science, surrealism and mythology to craft imaginative, life-like creatures, expect plenty here, including 2016's The Bond featuring a woman lovingly cradling an ambiguous creature. A multi-sensory environment called The Field will rank among Piccinini's new efforts, using 3000 genetically modified flower sculptures to create an immersive landscape. Other pieces will keep stepping into her strange yet realistic world, in an exhibition designed to "will deliberately challenge our conceptions about what it means to be human and the power of empathy," according to Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA director Chris Saines.

In addition to sculpture and installation, Piccinini's photography, video and drawing work will also be on display, complete with never-before-seen commissions that continue to explore the relationship between nature and technology in scientific research, genetic engineering and more. Curious Affection will mark GOMA's largest-ever solo collection by an Australian artist, celebrating a creative force who has represented Australia at the 2003 Venice Biennale, exhibited everywhere from Tokyo to Berlin to New York, and attracted more than over a million visitors to a touring showcase in Brazil in 2016.

Patricia Piccinini: Curious Affection will display at GOMA from 24 March to 5 August 2018. For more information, head to the exhibition website.

Image: Patricia Piccinini Australia VIC b.1965 The Bond 2016 Silicone, fibreglass, human hair, clothing 162 x 56 x 50cm Courtesy the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco.