Blak on Blak
Issue 30:1 | March 2010
Editor: Daniel Browning. Assistant editor: Tess Allas
Political, satirical, hard-hitting art by blak artists around Australia is assessed and discussed by blak writers. In a dynamic Australian publishing first, both the Editor Daniel Browning and assistant editor Tess Allas are Indigenous and all of the features are written by Indigenous writers, privileging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and group practices from across Australia.
In this issue
Not black enough, the politics of skin
Bundjalung man, journalist and radio broadcaster Daniel Browning, guest editor of this issue of Artlink, writes about the current state of racism and Aboriginality in Australia.
Lin Onus: picturing histories, speaking politics
Art historian and painter Gamilaroi/Gamilaraay woman Donna Leslie examines the work and the legacy of Lin Onus, its humour, its depth and its urgency.
Learning to be proppa : Aboriginal artists collective ProppaNOW
Senior Research Fellow and Senior Curator at the National Museum of Australia Margo Neale presents an incisive account of the genesis of proppaNOW the Queensland collective of urban Aboriginal Artists who are making waves in Australia and internationally with their intelligent brash art.
Gordon Hookey : Flash Gordon’s message - language is a virus - the King's English (not)
Curator, artist and South Australian School of Art lecturer Brenda L. Croft gives the lowdown on Gordon Hookey's really rude and loud art that uses language and Australian animals to put the boot into racism and lend a voice to the silenced.
History is a weapon: Fiona Foley history teacher
Badtjala woman Fiona Foley is a sculptor, installation artist, painter, printmaker, photographer, public artist, curator, lecturer and public speaker. Her work addresses lacunae and silences in Australian history, opening wounds and drawing attention to important topics of the past and how it affects the present.
Art of glass: Yhonnie Scarce
The first Aboriginal student to graduate from the University of South Australia with a major in glass, Yhonnie Scarce makes blown glass objects that explore Aboriginal history and draw on her Kokatha and Nukunu ancestry.
Dianne Jones : a little less conversation
Curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia Clotilde Bullen provides insight into Nyoongar artist Dianne Jones' use of humour and iconic images from Western art to make hard-hitting blak art about racism, the absence of black faces in history and the portrayal of black women.
Tony Albert: there’s no place like home
Wirri man Bruce McLean of the Birri Gubba nation is currently Associate Curator, Indigenous Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. He writes with personal insight about the art practice of the youngest member of proppaNOW Tony Albert who comes from Cardwell in Queensland and was included in the 2009 Havana Biennale.
From Tiwi with love: Bindi Cole
Yamatji man Stephen Gilchrist is curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. He writes about recent winner of the 2009 'Victorian Indigenous Art Awards' Bindi Cole’s provocative artwork as an inventive addition to the genre of portraiture photography.
Gary Lee: the outsider
Photographer Gary Lee makes work saturated with beauty and homoeroticism. His photographs of Aboriginal men are celebratory, bold and uncompromising.
Beaver Lennon: painting country
Trainee curator of Indigenous Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia Nici Cumpston writes about the new art of Beaver Lennon a young emerging artist of Mirning and Antikirinjara people who lives in Ceduna on the far west coast of South Australia. His great-grandmother was the author of the memoir 'I’m the one that know this country, the story of Jessie Lennon and Coober Pedy'.
Nowhere Boy
Emeritus Curator Djon Mundine OAM, currently Indigenous Curator of Contemporary Art at Campbelltown Arts Centre, Western Sydney, spills his guts on the current state of play as he sees it in Australian Aboriginal art where fashion has overtaken activism and some artists are just so hot right now.
Look good feel good: the art of healing
Murri woman Jenny Fraser has recently completed a Masters in Indigenous Wellbeing at Southern Cross University in Lismore. She writes about different avenues for wellbeing for all Australians through practices known by Indigenous Australians.
New Creations in Aurukun: Ceremonial Art
For the Adelaide Festival, Aptos Cruz Gallery in the Adelaide Hills is showcasing an extensive range of art from senior and emerging Aurukun artists, with about 35 works representing all artists using the art centre. This is a great opportunity to see new creations coming from the community. The exhibition continues to 4 April 2010.
Queensland Indigenous Artists Creating More than Great Art!
The Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA) was established in 2003 to promote the export of quality Queensland Indigenous art globally and nationally. A focal point for Queensland Indigenous art will be the 2nd Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) to be held from 20 to 22 August 2010.
6th Asia Pacific Triennial
Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art 5 December 2009 - 5 April 2010
Culture Warriors
Culture Warriors Curator: Brenda L. Croft Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington D.C. 10 September – 6 December 2009
Menagerie
Menagerie Object Gallery and Australian Museum, Sydney 5 September - 2 November 2009 travelling till 2012
To hear the language of birds: Paul Uhlmann
Fremantle Arts Centre 26 September – 22 November 2009 Curator: Jasmin Stephens
Critical Generosity
Morgan Allender, Christopher Boha, Thom Buchanan, Annika Evans, Talitha Kennedy, Chloe Langford, Julian Lucas, Mary-Jean Richardson, Sam Songalio, Tomasz Talaj, Billie Justice Thomson, Reed Young Curator: Brigid Noone FELTspace ARI, Adelaide 5 - 21 November 2009
White Picket Fences in the Clear Light of Day Cast Black Lines: Sangeeta Sandrasegar
Gallery 4A, Sydney 7 November - 12 December, 2009