Discover the Shillam Sculptures Online at the State Library

15 September 2006

Discover the Shillam sculptures online at the State Library

Delve into the life and sculptures of the late Leonard and Kathleen Shillam through a new website launched by the State Library of Queensland today.

State Librarian, Lea Giles-Peters said the website, www.slq.qld.gov.au/shillam, explores the life story of renowned Queensland sculptors Len and Kath Shillam and pays tribute to their roles as teachers, mentors and public artists.

“After meeting as art students at the Brisbane Technical College in the 1930s, Len and Kath went on to become among the first Australian sculptors to make a living from their art.

“Following Kath’s death in 2002, Len donated to the State Library’s Australian Library of Art a collection of papers including notes, newspaper clippings, exhibition catalogues, hundreds of photographs and five maquettes (small models of sculptures). He also donated an early sculpture of Kath’s, Torso, which Len believes is one of the earliest modernist sculptures done in Australia.”

In an interview recorded shortly before his death in September 2005, Len commented the first exhibition in 1949 with his wife Kath, was less than well received, “the public in general regarded it as ridiculous stuff – waste of good stone and wood”.

Video excerpts and the full transcript of this interview, which recounts their early lives as sculptors, their influences, their work and what people thought of their modernist artwork, is available on the website.

Around 300 images of the Shillams and their works can also be searched through Picture Queensland, www.pictureqld.slq.qld.gov.au, the State Library’s online picture resource.

Ms Giles-Peters said the State Library is leading the way in online content of Queensland’s artistic documentary heritage.

“Other sites such as Artists’ Books online, with artists’ statements and images of more than 50 Australian and international artists’ books, and the Johnstone Gallery archive, which commemorates one of Brisbane’s most influential art galleries, provide a wealth of information for people with an interest in Queensland art.”

Despite inauspicious beginnings, the Shillams’ work is now much-loved and valued throughout Australia by the public and collectors alike.

“Len and Kath are perhaps best known for their sculpture of the Pelicans in the water mall outside the Queensland Art Gallery, but their work can be found in public spaces around south east Queensland and in collections throughout the country,” said Ms Giles-Peters. “Ranging from large scale abstract works to intimate small sculptures of animals, the Shillams’ work has wide appeal.”

…/2 The Shillams were also founding members of the Queensland Society of Sculptors and were involved with the Queensland Wildlife Artists Society. They each received an AM in the Australia Day Honours in 1986 for services to sculpture and education and in 2000, an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland.

Media inquiries Natasha Geritz 07 3842 9832 or [email protected]

Image: Kath Shillam, Torso, bronze, 1990, cast from 1937 clay original. Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland.

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