Onespace is excited to announce the latest addition to the Queen’s Wharf public art precinct: Samuel Tupou’s ‘Lungfish Dreamz’. This 13-metre glass tiled mural depicts a school of iconic Queensland lungfish shining under a clouded sunrise as they drift along the Maiwar/Brisbane River.
The Star Brisbane within Queen’s Wharf Brisbane has released a list of attractions, cultural, culinary and entertainment hot spots that will open on Thursday, August 29, as part of the first phase of the highly anticipated reveal of this new Brisbane entertainment precinct. You can catch Samuel’s 13-metre-long mosaic mural adjacent to the bicentennial bike path between Queen’s Wharf Road and the Brisbane River. And if you have time to pass with a coffee, you can count the number of tiles used in the piece … or you can just trust Samuel that 49,280 tiles were used.
Reflecting on his creative process, Samuel states, “In the early stages of this project I was thinking about the bull sharks that inhabit the river, having made several shark related artworks in the past, mostly nods to Damien Hirst’s ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’. Whilst not a huge fan of all Hirst’s work, that piece and its existential crisis evoking title has always resonated with me.”
Jeff Johnson, Manager Ichthyology from Queensland Museum, advised Sam that the lungfish is an ancient species which predates human existence. With this advice Sam decided that the prehistoric Queensland lungfish, a native fish, was more suited to describe those existential questions.
Tupou continues, “the images and descriptions of this fish were mind blowing. Human evolution began roughly 2 million years ago. Fossils date the origins of the lungfish back to around 380 million years. Big respect to this time traversing Grandaddy of the river, not only for the wisdom it undoubtedly carries within its DNA, but also for being a deadset survivor. May this iconic fish swim through time forever!”
To coincide with this launch, Samuel will showcase four new screenprints featuring his now iconic lungfish motif as part of Onespace’s group exhibition, riverine. riverine will be on show at Onespace’s new venue at 25A Bouquet Street, South Brisbane, just around the riverbend at Kurilpa, from the 24 August – 28 September 2024. Samuel’s mural was brilliantly fabricated by Dom Johns from Shardworks.
Congratulations to Sam and all of the teams @queenswharf_brisbane @onespace_au@commexconceptsand Dom Johns from Shardworks mosaic studio in Koah North Queensland.
Samuel Tupou, 2024, Lungfish Dreamz (detail). Image: Louis Lim. Courtesy of Destination Brisbane. Artist Samuel Tupou and fabricator Dom Johns with one feature panel.
