Featured artist: Scott Redford

Scott Redford is a highly significant and influential Australian contemporary artist whose work is represented in major collections throughout Australia and internationally. His practice draws on various art movements to examine cultural identity, regionalism, and gender issues. Many of his works feature elements of his hometown, the Gold Coast, and reference both the surf culture and the Coast’s architecture to examine personal and cultural identity.   

Pink Poodle 1 is a great example of Redford’s interest in both the regional character of Australia and American modernism. The work is part of a series Redford created based on retro Gold Coast motel signage. Pink Poodle 1 refers to the iconic Pink Poodle Motel that once operated in Surfers Paradise. 

Motels have been a significant feature of the Gold Coast since they emerged in the 1950s. The Pink Poodle Motel opened its doors in 1967. The neon lit sign became a lure for tourists and was synonymous with the Gold Coast’s glitzy, colourful image. The motel operated until 2004 when it was demolished, but the sign was preserved and relocated to Fern Street, Gold Coast. In 2005 the National Trust of Queensland nominated the sign to be one of Queensland’s Heritage Icons.  

The maquette that Redford has created is a renewed and recreated sign which would sit on the highway from Brisbane, notifying drivers that they are entering the glamorous Gold Coast. 

Come and see this iconic piece in the Gallery Store during opening hours.