Introduction
On the corner of High Street and Glenferrie Roads in Malvern stands The Sun & the Moon Sculpture, by Melbourne avant-garde artist Paul Juraszek.
It consists of two prominent figures, a male and female, respectively, with their heads towards each other engaged in symbolic posturing.
The sculpture has been an artistic landmark in Malvern since the late 1980s when it was commissioned by the City of Malvern (the now newly created Stonnington City Council); with the assistance of the Visual Arts/Crafts Board of the Australia Council.
A surrealist work and one of the first public art sculptures in Melbourne to be widely regarded as ‘post-modern’, the sculpture paved the way for many other cutting edge contemporary public artworks.
Cast in bronze and installed in 1989, the figures are proud and strong and reference ancient mythology and cosmology. Sending at the time a positive statement for what the new Australian Artistic identity might look like.
The Controversy.
The sculpture artwork was seen as provocative and clearly unorthodox, it generated much debate and controversy receiving favorable press coverage and public comment.
Criticized from the get-go, the council’s decision to commission the ambitious work was a bold move.
The council vision at the time was to make Malvern a more vibrant cosmopolitan city attracting tourists and business visitors.
But not all shared their enthusiasm; churches voiced their disapproval and viewed the work as satanic; others interpreted the work as glorifying pagan symbolism.
In addition, residents from the area deemed the artwork as unsuitable for a city like Malvern; and objected to its “lack of taste” and its offensive nudity.
In Hindsight.
However, in defense of the work, generations since have described the work as “nothing short of genius”.
The sculpture has become part of the Malvern Business and Residential landscape, bringing postmodernism to a community swamped in its antiquity past.
Many questions still beg, was it all for naught or have this artistic expression proved itself over the test of time.
The NGV at the time indeed praised the council for their “sense of adventure”, and in 1994 the sculptures were placed on the National Trust Registry, citing the sculpture is significant for aesthetic and cultural reasons at a State level.
The National trust also cites the sculpture as more than likely one of the first Post-Modern sculpture in Melbourne – prior to the commission of Cultural Rubble by Christine O’Loughlin at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, installed in 1993.
I hope you have enjoyed this short post, there is little known about the artist Paul Juraszek, apart from being born in Melbourne in 1953.
He was also depicted 29 times in Marcus Will’s painting The Paul Juraszek Monolith that won the 2006 Archibald Prize.
If you would like to visit the artwork or take a wander around Malvern’s iconic Shopping and Restaurant precinct then see map listing below.
Auctions houses that have sold his works include:
- Christies:
- Leonard Joel, Prahran VIC:
- Deutscher-Menzies:
- Davidson Auctions, Annandale NSW:
His works are held by major public Galleries, including:
- Art Gallery of Western Australia:
- National Gallery of Australia:
- National Gallery of Victoria:
Location
If you have more info on Paul Juraszek and you would like to share, please contact us via email
Further Reading:
http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/66566