Collage compositions

Performing Arts Tapestry Designs

Experimental designs to explore different possibilities of illustrating the performing arts throughout the centuries. The designs were commissioned by the Victorian Arts Centre (since 2003 known as the Arts Centre, Melbourne) in early 1983 and to be hand-woven into tapestries as a permanent fixture in one of the foyers of the State Theatre, Melbourne, which was to open in 1984.

Photocopied vintage engravings, self-made marbled paper; appliqué, metal foil; felt pen, gouache, watercolour, metallic ink and paint on drawing paper.

20 x 32 cm; 8 x 12.5 in ea

Collection Barry Kay Archive

Unable to reach a unanimous decision on accepting Barry Kay’s ideas, the Committee of the Victorian Arts Centre abandoned its plans along with Kay’s final designs. They were never returned, claiming that they ‘went missing’. These designs, aesthetically developed and artistically advanced, differed considerably from above illustrations. – See also Biography.