SKYWHALE Sculpture by Artist Patricia Piccinini to Hover Over Adelaide, March 1

The majestic creature that caused a stir when she helped celebrate Canberra's centenary is now en route to Adelaide. Skywhale, a sculpture by internationally renowned artist Patricia Piccinini, will hover over Adelaide on Saturday 1 March for one day only as part of the 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Dark Heart.

'The Skywhale is a magnificent and mysterious creature that literally floats in and out of our world. She appears both impossible but also strangely plausible, a reminder of the marvellous and incredible adaptations that exist across the breadth of the world,' said Patricia Piccinini

'(It) is by far the largest sculpture I have ever conceived. It is massive on every level. The very idea of creating it is huge. I see her as a generator of wonder, and a creator of discussion,' she said.

From concept development Patricia Piccinini's sculpture took over seven months to create. Standing 24 meters high and 36 meters long, Skywhale is twice as big as a standard hot-air balloon and weighs half a tonne. It was cut and sewn together by a team of six people who used 3.3 million stitches.

'At the heart of the 2014 Adelaide Biennial is the idea of the artist's imagination and that anything is possible. Skywhale is the beacon of what an artist's fertile imagination can create. It captures the startling possibilities of genetic engineering and biotechnology while expressing a vulnerability that Piccinini's work is famous for,' said Nick Mitzevich, Curator, Dark Heart.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE SKY:

Follow Skywhale on Instagram as she flies over the Barossa @artgalleryofsa

Get up close when she hovers over Adelaide.

ONE DAY ONLY - Adelaide Botanic Garden, Saturday 1 March, 11am to 2pm 11am Patricia Piccinini artist talk | 12pm Art making workshop | FREE

Footage of the inaugural Skywhale flight can be viewed here.

About the Adelaide Biennial: The Adelaide Biennial has a 26 year history and is the country's longest running survey of contemporary Australian art. Established in 1990 it was initiated by Daniel Thomas, then Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, as an antipodean version of the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Known for its risk taking, expansive vision and desire to educate and inform the general public about contemporary Australian art, the event demonstrates the Art Gallery of South Australia's unswerving commitment to current Australian art.

The Adelaide Biennial has always displayed the best contemporary work in the context of Australian artist's engagement with the world in which we live. It is forward thinking, timely and perhaps uniquely capable of expressing the dominant concerns and position of the visual arts in our time. www.adelaidebiennial.com.au

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