A provocative art installation that stirred up controversy in Tasmania has now hit the Gold Coast, complete with scantily clad male butlers and a women-only entry rule.
The ‘Ladies Lounge’ opened today at HOTA (Home of the Arts) as part of the Bleach Festival, bringing artist Kirsha Kaechele’s controversial concept to Queensland for the first time.
The installation mirrors Kaechele’s original work at Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), which famously faced legal battles over banning male visitors.
On the Gold Coast, the experience comes with male staff in bow ties and swimming trunks who serve cocktails to female guests.
“WHY the Goldie? It’s the land of sun-soaked masculinity. Call it artistic temptation – I couldn’t resist,” Kaechele said on social media.
Kaechele said men are welcome to apply for butler roles, with high-profile names like artist Jeff Koons and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate tipped to don the bow tie during the event.
Exhibition curator Michael Zavros will also serve as a butler, with Kaechele describing the arrangement as curating “his art and his body, as butler.”
The installation also features a companion piece by American artist Tora Lopez called “The Complaints Department”, which Kaechele says will collect feedback and “completely disregard it”.
The original Ladies Lounge at MONA was challenged in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal by a male visitor who claimed the women-only policy was discriminatory.
The tribunal agreed, ordering it to close, until the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on appeal.
To top it off, Kaechele has planned what she calls a “topless sit-in on the beach” for August 10.
