SQ News

GOMA’s Marvel blockbuster opens in May


Screen Queensland is excited to share the news about this must-see exhibition + film program

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Director Chris Saines was behind-the-scenes at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) previewing some of the costumes and props to feature in the upcoming exhibition ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe from 27 May to 3 September.

Mr Saines said the costumes of Marvel characters Captain America, Thor and The Ancient One would feature among the 500 plus objects in the exclusive to GOMA exhibition.

‘This exhibition will be the first major Marvel exhibition in Australia and the largest ever presented in an art museum worldwide,’ Mr Saines said.

‘It will encompass the entire ground floor of GOMA and include more than 60 original costumes, props, spectacular set design, costumes, concept and keyframe art and clips from the Marvel Studios films.

‘Curated by QAGOMA’s Amanda Slack-Smith, the exhibition draws on Marvel’s extensive archives to give audiences unprecedented insight into the rich fictional world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,’ he said

The legendary Marvel characters and their complex personas and relationships are profiled with a focus on Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and the Avengers, alongside Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Kevin Feige, Producer, Marvel Studios, said the company was thrilled to be working with QAGOMA to bring to life this unique exhibition.

‘The support that we’ve received from Queensland and the country of Australia has been incredible. Following the success of filming Thor: Ragnarok on the Gold Coast, we couldn’t think of a better setting to stage the largest Marvel exhibition ever.’ Mr Feige said.

The exhibition addresses three key themes ‘The Cinematic Assembled’, ‘Decoding the Universe’ and ‘Behind the Scenes’ and it recognises the artists and creative teams behind the much-loved stories, offering a glimpse into the work of production designers, storyboarding and pre-visualisation artists, costume and prop designers, and visual effects artists.

Must-see highlights include more than 60 original Marvel Studios costumes, Tony Stark’s race car from Iron Man 2, Thor’s hammer, multiple versions of Iron Man’s armour including the imposing three metre tall Hulkbuster, the Eye of Agamotto from Doctor Strange, and never-before-seen items from the set of the upcoming film Thor: Ragnarok including the majestic Asgardian throne room.

Interactive experiences throughout the exhibition invite visitors to delve even further into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Throughout the exhibition season a retrospective of Marvel Cinematic Universe films will screen in the Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque and include Iron Man (2008), Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Doctor Strange (2016) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (2017).

An Up Late series will accompany the exhibition on Fridays from 28 July – 1 September, including music, talks and more. The exhibition will also be open late until 9pm on Wednesday evenings.

Tickets to ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’ and the MCU film retrospective are on sale now through qagoma.qld.gov.au

‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’ has been organised by the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in collaboration with Marvel Entertainment. The exhibition has received additional support from the Queensland Government though Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and Arts Queensland.

For more information visit qagoma.qld.gov.au