A $1.5 million, seven-metre-tall spaceman sculpture slated for installation outside of Council House on St Georges Terrace will not touch down this year.
A $1.5 million, seven-metre-tall spaceman sculpture slated for installation outside of Council House on St Georges Terrace will not touch down this year.
Announced to great fanfare by City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas in June, the Boonji Spaceman statue was donated to the city by Miami-based artist Brendan Murphy and expected to land at a temporary home outside the city’s headquarters before the end of 2024.
The area around the statue’s proposed site on a concrete slab behind the bronze kangaroo sculptures on St Georges Terrace has since been landscaped in anticipation.
But the spaceman is yet to arrive.
A City of Perth spokesperson confirmed to Business News that its arrival had been delayed and was now expected in the new year.
“The city is working with the Artist and the Artist’s representative in Perth regarding arrangements to bring the Boonji spaceman artwork to Perth,” they said.
“Once these are finalised it is anticipated that the artwork will be installed in early 2025.”
The council has received approval for the installation of the statue, which will stand behind the bronze kangaroos along St Georges Terrace.
The 1365-kilogram fibreglass sculpture was to be installed to coincide with a solo exhibition by Mr Murphy at Gullotti Galleries in Claremont.
Business News understands the exhibition has also been pushed back.
Gullotti Galleries was contacted for comment.
The City of Perth is not paying for the donated artwork but will fork up between $150,000 and $250,000 to pay for freight and installation after a unanimous council vote.
The Boonji spaceman will be one among a series around the world, joining other installations in Oslo, Dubai, London and Antigua.
Mr Zempilas told media in June that he hoped to eventually relocate the Boonji spaceman to Elizabeth Quay once the precinct is handed back to the City of Perth by DevelopmentWA.
The Boonji spaceman ties into the City of Perth’s City of Light branding campaign – a reference to a nickname bestowed on Perth by astronaut John Glenn during a space orbit in 1962.
