Light for every format

The John Curtin Gallery is part of the university of the same name in Perth. It was inaugurated in 1998, and as Australia's largest university art gallery is an anchor point in the cultural life of the region. Upgrading of the lighting to LED technology from ERCO opens up new design options for the exhibition organisers.

Two ceramic artists: in the form of Pippin Drysdale and Warrick Palmateer, the John Curtin Gallery presented two creative positions at the end of 2018 that both separate and connect. An intense dialogue in which the consistent, uniform quality of the lighting forms the aesthetic backdrop - the gallery had previously replaced its original ERCO system of halogen spotlights and floodlights with the latest generation of ERCO LED lighting tools. With their special lens systems the new luminaires offer not only efficiency and high visual comfort, but also light beams that come very close to an ideal, as well as the flexibility of interchangeable Spherolit optics for different light distributions and beam angles. In this way, gallery technicians were able to metaphorically carve the exhibits out of the darkness of the rooms with practically no spill light. The uniform light beams of the Optec spotlights perfectly model the ceramic forms, making the finest details and colour nuances perceptible.

This applies both to the groups of smaller objects from Pippin Drysdale's "Devils Marbles II" series arranged on platforms, and to the large terracotta bodies placed on the floor in Warrick Palmateer's "Meridian Arc" series. The new portfolio of lighting tools for the gallery is rounded off by Pantrac wallwashers for track mounting and Optec contour spotlights which enable the works of art appear to shine from within thanks to crisp-edged illumination: Director Chris Malcolm and his team at the John Curtin Gallery are convinced that this equipment allows works of art in a wide variety of formats and media to be ideally showcased - and they're keenly looking forward to forthcoming exhibitions!

Project data

Client: John Curtin Gallery, Perth
Lighting Design: Chris Malcolm, John Curtin
Electrical engineering: BEST Consultants, Joe Romano, Perth
System integrator: Lynx Integrated Systems, Perth
Electrical installation: Williams Electrical Service, Balcatta
ERCO Partner: Lighting Options Australia
Photography: Matt Devlin, Perth

Products: Optec, Pantrac
Photo credits: © ERCO GmbH, www.erco.com, 
photography: Matt Devlin, Perth