Marcel makes move
Gallery finds new home in Brisbane
ONE of the most photographed figures on the Gold Coast has up and moved to Brisbane.
Marcel, a 90kg concrete artwork of a man with his knees pulled in towards his chest, his head bowed solemnly, spent almost five years sitting on the footpath in front of the former Urban Paradise Gallery (UPG) in the Piazza on the Boulevard building in Surfers Paradise.
A drawcard with selfiesnapping tourists, Marcel was perched beside a begging tin marked “Artists against starvation” outside the artist-run gallery.
With the Gold Coast UPG closed, Marcel and many of the other locally crafted artworks are now on display at the new UPG in Brisbane.
Marcel’s creator, Coast sculptor Frederic Berjot, began scouting Brisbane for buildings that could be transformed into pop-up, not-forprofit, artist-run spaces when the Coast gallery faced closure late last year.
Frustrated by a lack of support from Gold Coast City Council, Mr Berjot found an empty building in Woolloongabba and approached its owners, the Pikos Group, who agreed to allow it to be transformed into a pop-up gallery.
“While we were in Surfers Paradise we sold hundreds of art works by local artists all around the world,” he said.
The Urban Paradise Gallery ARI at Wooloongabba quietly opened its doors last week with an exhibition showcasing works by members of the collective.
Mr Berjot said the gallery move was a huge loss for the Coast. “The majority of the 42 artists employed on Thor: Ragnarok’s sculpting department came from UPG.”
Mr Berjot said work by Coast artists Ricardo Lawyer, Catherine Gabarda, Jillian Bradley, Jeanelle Hurst, Joe Attencia, John Dahlsen and François Olivier was being displayed in Brisbane.
He said the response to the new Brisbane gallery had been “fantastic’’ and the artist-run initiative had attracted support from Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Suburban Initiative Fund and Gabba area councillor Jonathan Sri.
“Marcel is out the front. People drive in and say ‘what is this?’. He’s creating his own little attraction here.”
A Gold Coast City Council spokesman said “the city wishes them all the best with the move”.
“We’re very sorry to see this passionate group of artists leaving the Gold Coast but we understand the building they occupied was sold and through existing relationships they have been offered another site outside the city.
“The city has provided a diverse range of support on a number of levels to this group, in line with the aims of our culture strategy.”
The Brisbane gallery will host an exhibition by artists from Pormpuraaw from February 8 to March 15.
WHILE WE WERE IN SURFERS PARADISE WE SOLD HUNDREDS OF ART WORKS BY LOCAL ARTISTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD SCULPTOR FREDERIC BERJOT