Mardi Gras celebrations are well upon us, and the city is brightening its streets and foyers in support. While we can’t wait for the parades and the life to burst out in Sydney’s CBD this weekend, we helped install an original Goldberg-Aberline Studios pop-up in the foyer at 477 Pitt St.

The Art Pharmacy team rallied together on Tuesday afternoon at 477 Pitt St, to install their one-of-a-kind inflatable art piece in the building lobby. It was amazing to watch an empty space be revitalised with an injection of queer energy to provide a moment of joy for the working commuters that walk passed every single day.

The work ‘Love Box’ was created as a collaborative process between Goldberg-Aberline Studios and the community, reflecting the importance of community engagement for queer rights and discourse.

About the Art:
Love Box was created as a part of the ‘Live for Love’ series, which is a collection of giant, bright, inflatable art installations that celebrates love across the world. They are created for people of all ages, races and sexual identities. They are big, bold, and an explosion of colour and form.

‘Live for Love’ was originally created for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the City of Sydney in Australia to celebrate 40 years since the revolutionary street party riot in 1978. This protest march catapulted Australia’s fight for sexual equality into the main political and social agenda.

The work then developed further to include the evolution of human rights in Australia, telling the story of the treatment of homosexuals in WW2, AIDS activism, queer First Nations visibility, and gender diversity.

This story of triumphing over adversity soon reached international audiences and was most recently shown in New York’s World Trade Centre Oculus as a free-standing three storey work, seen by millions of viewers in 2019. It was then shown in London for the Australian High Commission and Saatchi Art.

“Live for Love’ tells us about the good times, the bad times, and the diversity of our community, but most importantly it is about celebration.” – Goldberg Aberline Studios

The work uses a series of icons to tell its story – the butterfly for freedom, the gender diversity symbol, the pink triangle for repression, the AIDS ribbon for adversity, the heart for love, and a special Australian Aboriginal symbol designed by artist Lawrence Shearer for inclusion.

At Art Pharmacy, we love our artists and love being on the ground with all our projects. Our approach ensures that every aspect of the project is accounted for, from taking care of the artists, the clients, to overlooking strategy creation, and being there to the final moment of the install. This is how we set ourselves apart as one of Australia’s best art consultancy agencies.

Thank you 477 Pitt St and Goldberg Aberline.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Art Pharmacy is a full service art strategy and culture agency. Our Art Consultants are here to plan, manage and deliver creative projects that culturally enrich spaces and tell interesting stories using high- quality Australian art.