Bruce Reynolds
ACT/QLD b.1955
Unfolded 2012
High-density polyurethane foam
16 parts, dimensions various
BCEC Art Collection
Brisbane artist Bruce Reynolds was commissioned in 2010 to create a series of site-specific works for the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre’s expansion onto Grey Street. The resulting body of work spans multiple media – linoleum (Tea Tree Paradox), painting and photography (Fortune), and architecturally integrated reliefs in plaster and polyurethane foam (Unfolded).
These works form part of Pamphlet, a collection named after Thomas Pamphlet, the convict and castaway who, after being marooned in Moreton Bay, later guided explorer John Oxley to the Brisbane River. Across the series, Reynolds weaves together references to early European settlement, the surrounding landscape, the site’s industrial history, and the contemporary life of the Grey Street precinct.
Unfolded occupies the feature wall between the Centre’s Mezzanine and Plaza Levels. Comprising 16 hand-carved relief panels, the work presents a quiet, tactile surface animated by a subtle, colourless pattern language. Its motifs recall fragments of decorative forms found elsewhere on the site, suggesting traces of memory, continuity, and place embedded within the architecture.
Unfolded can be viewed across Ground, Arbour and Boulevard Levels.