ANDREW NICHOLLS traces the remarkable trajectory of one of the pivotal commercial galleries of the western seaboard.

“I did some notes some time ago and worked out that something like thirty-five galleries have opened and closed in Western Australia since we opened,” Galerie Dusseldorf co-Director Douglas Sheerer stated in our recent interview. “There have been five directors of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, at least eight different arts writers at The West Australian and we’ve gone from four different newspapers with arts columns to one with a single column on a Friday.”

His observations allude to the unique position Galerie Dusseldorf holds in Western Australia’s cultural landscape, recognised as one of the state’s finest commercial galleries as well as its longest running. The space celebrated its thirtieth birthday in 2006 and to date has held close to 450 exhibitions. It is an impressive legacy in a city in which the enduring gold-rush mentality can make for transient culture, and makes it one of the oldest spaces in the country still operating under its original name and directorship.

To read more of this item and others, subscribe now (you will receive the latest issue) or simply order Issue 22 of aAR by clicking here.

Image: Bevan Honey, Rorschach 1, 2008, enamel and estapol on plywood, 84 x 120 x 26cm.