Kiss of Light by David McDiarmid

In September 2024, Sally Gray was approached by the Director of Vivid Sydney, Gillian Minervini, with a proposal to potentially employ David McDiarmid’s art work for ‘Lighting of the Sails’ of Sydney Opera House for Vivid Sydney 2025, an annual festival of lights. After careful consideration of what art works might lend themselves to such a spatially specific and large scale manifestation, Sally agreed to meet with Minervini and the Opera House senior curator of visual art, Micheal Do, with her proposed selection of McDiarmid works. She then worked with Minervini, Do, and the creative production company Vandal (principally with Chris Scott, Melody Ha and Alice Robinson), as co-curator with Minervini and Do, of the realisation of David’s work in this new and challenging format. The bodies of work chosen include: the ‘Rainbow Aphorisms’ (1993-95); the ‘Bedsheet Paintings’ (1983-84); the ‘Disco Kwilts’ (1979-81) and the ‘Kiss of Light’ series (1990-91), from which the title of the 2025 project was derived. The evocative musical score for the work was created by Stereogamous. The project was launched on 23 May 2025 to widespread acclaim. The work was shown every evening from 6pm, until the end of the Vivid festival on 14 June 2025, after having been viewed by millions locally and globally.