Art Gallery of New South Wales: Sydney Modern

Art Gallery of New South Wales - Sydney Modern open to the public on 3 December 2022.

With its showy abundance of glass and light and bold artworks arrayed on each of its cascading levels, Sydney Modern was always going to be selfie heaven.

The glitterati, politicians, private donors, artists, staff and media types had had their tantalising glimpse inside Sydney's newest cultural landmark, and yesterday, it was the public's turn to stand in judgment.

It was state taxpayers who had largely underwritten the Art Gallery of NSW's $344 million new wing, a project a decade in the planning, and which got under way just before COVID-19 was a thing.

Queues had begun to form two hours before the ribbon-cutting formalities, with onlookers gathering under the glass canopy sheltering Francis Upritchard's Tolkien-esque creatures, suitably titled Here Comes Everybody. Some 15,000 people registered to visit on opening weekend.

They filed in in an orderly fashion, phones at the ready, led by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

Sydney Modern's first visitors were a combination of art and architecture buffs, and the curious. They noted a new building more expansive and capacious than the original sandstone next door, filled with artworks more experiential than paintings on a wall.

The surreal installation of Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas, The End of Imagination, in the subterranean Tank gallery was always going to be popular, with its science fiction antecedents and alien-like sculptural creatures. Smelling of petrochemicals, cold and dark, the deepest of Sydney Modern's galleries hushed its audiences on entry.

Crowds formed around Samara Golden's Guts, trying to figure out how the Los Angeles installation artist achieved her mirrored illusion of an apartment that seemed to stretch to infinity .

Lee Mingwei's 1.05-metre-high Buddha, recessed in the gallery's rammed earth wall, had constant admirers, as did Yayoi Kusama's Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos on the terrace.

Korean artist Kimsooja's claymaking table drew adults and children alike, who busily rolled balls, adding to the artist's desired " cosmos of spheres'' .

Thousands of eyes were craned to Lisa Reihana's giant video installation Groundloop, in the central atrium.

The consensus view was that repeat visits were needed to fully appreciate the building and the artwork it holds.

This week in his appraisal, Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke at the University of Technology Sydney made the point that the building by Japanese architects SANAA wasn't designed for Instagram, as many of the recent global offerings in gallery design have been, but created a happy stage for cultural theatre.

Just don't tell the thousands who are likely to take to social media to give Sydney Modern's art and architecture their smiley face emoji endorsements.