Image: Artist James Lemon pictured with his plates from the Powerhouse Museum collection. Photo: Instagram/JamesLemon
By SHARLOTTE THOU
The Powerhouse Museum has come under fire for commissioning gold ceramic plates – sculpted by ceramicist James Lemon – with inscriptions such as “Beauty has faded but your bank account is 4 eva”, “Horniest here” and “You have the sexual prowess of a damp vacuum”.
Speaking to City Hub, former Deputy Director of the Powerhouse Museum Jennifer Sanders described the $18,000 plates as “crappy” and “an insult to the Museum’s magnificent ceramics collection”.
Lemon’s website describes his work as “tactile, dynamic objects that traverse contexts of art and design”, which “uniquely reflects his humour, physical gestures and broader social and philosophical concerns”.
The plates were used at the recent Powerhouse Trust annual dinner. A museum spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald that the plates were commissioned for “outgoing and event use”.
“They will continue to be used regularly in future for a busy schedule of internal and external events, including corporate and commercial events the Powerhouse hosts, which will offset ongoing hire costs,” the spokesperson said.
City Hub reached out to Lemon, but he declined to comment.
$500 million museum upgrade
Sanders also criticised the proposed $500 million upgrades to the Museum, which she classes as an “unnecessary wasteful upheaval and demolition”.
“Maintenance has been delayed for years as the Government continued with its destructive scheme which is a slap in the face for responsible custodianship of NSW’s built and movable heritage”, she said, adding that the Powerhouse Museum was “an organisation, not a museum”.
She also claims that architect Lionel Glendenning’s “moral rights have been ignored”, as he was not consulted “during the two and a half years [in which] plans have been in development”.
Glendenning was the architect behind the Powerhouse Museum and believes the upgrades will have “diabolical consequences”.
“God help Ultimo if this is the future urban form – a ‘Star Wars sandcrawler’ – has come to a standstill looming over Harris Street – more like Canterbury Road”, he told City Hub.
“The ‘death star’ of the Empire strikes back at hapless Ultimo and the People’s Museum – the Powerhouse Museum – to be obliterated”, he continued.
Construction to the Powerhouse Museum is expected to start in December 2023.
City Hub contacted the Powerhouse Museum for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication.
