Week Two: Artists, Artists, Artists!

This week I have been focusing mainly on researching Bran Nue Dae for my reflective paper. But, I have also been looking at different Indigenous artists because, to be honest, I don't recognise many Indigenous Australian artists. So this week I have looked at three:

Michael Riley:
Basically Michael Riley was a photographer and filmaker who sadly passed away in 2004 at the age of 44. In 1993 he founded one of the first Aboriginal film production agencies, Blackfella Films. His work often celebrated Aboriginal women and at times centred on Colonisation. In 2007/2008 a major retrospective of Riley's work was held in The National Gallery Of Australia. Here is some that I found particularly moving:
Untitled, 1992 from the series Sacrifice


Hetti, 1990

His work is sad. I know that sounds like a pretty basic explanation but it is. The first image is very moving but the second image is deeply emotive. With the woman looking away from the camera and her head tilted down slightly, the image is so delicate.


Nicolas Rothwell:
Nicolas Rothwell is a Darwin-based arts writer and author. The majority of his articles can be found on The Australian newspaper website. However, his book Another Country is a collection of some of his best work. Honestly, I am not entirely sure what I feel about his writing. To me, it seems that his work is overly critical and, at times, sarcastic and uncaring! From what I have read, he seems to conform to some unflattering Aboriginal stereotypes. But then he can also seem to stand up for the Indigenous community and blame the Australian Government for Indigenous issues....he is a confusing man!!


Gordon Bennett:
Gordon Bennett is one of my favourite artists and one that I can recognise well. ALL of his work is deeply moving and terrifying. He attacks many different themes but mostly focuses on Aboriginal displacement, the colonisation of Australia and the feeling of being an outcast. SOme of my favourites include:
The Coming of the Light, 1987
Double Vision, 2000

What I remember most from originally looking at Gordon Bennett's work is that during a video of him painting (I wish I could remember what it was!) he painted all of the derogatory words for Indigenous people on a canvas and then painted his imagery over the top. You would not even know that it is there but he uses it as a venting tool.