Artist Gregor Kregar has been awarded the $250,000 2015 Southern Way McClelland Commission, for his monumental work, Reflective Lullaby, which will be installed at the end of April 2015.
This new sculpture will be installed along the Peninsula Link freeway in Melbourne’s South East as part of a unique commitment to public art. It will replace Phil Price’s sculpture Tree of Life that is located on the Cranbourne road site, on the Langwarrin exit ramp close to McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery and the Mornington Peninsula.
‘The third, in the unique and highly regarded series of Southern Way McClelland Commissions, has been awarded to the sculptor Gregor Kregar for his work, Reflective Lullaby, which will be both iconic and evocatively contemporary. As public sculpture this sculpture embodies an interesting social commentary on suburbia but above all it will be absolutely memorable – once seen, never forgotten,’ says Robert Lindsay, Director, McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery.
This commission forms part of an ongoing program of new sculptures that will alternate every two years on the Peninsula Link Freeway, resulting in 14 commissions over 25 years (until 2037) with a total value in excess of $4 million. Every two years until 2037 one new sculpture will be commissioned to alternate between sites at Skye Road and Cranbourne Road, along the new Peninsula Link freeway.
‘Gregor’s sculpture has been selected from in excess of 100 submissions in response to the Peninsula Link competition and will be installed at the Cranbourne Road site in 2015. The Tree of Life will be removed and replaced with the new work by Gregor which is bound to generate thought and opinion. This is the first sculpture renewal which will see 14 sculptures in total displayed along Peninsula Link for a period of 4 years each prior to being donated to McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery for permanent display,’ says David Clements, General Manager, Southern Way.
After a two year cycle of display on the Peninsula Link freeway these Southern Way McClelland Commissions will form part of McClelland’s permanent sculpture collection.
Image: Gregor Kregar, Clouds for Richard Pearse, 2013, Christchurch Airport
