gordon bennett possession island gordon bennett possession island

Gordon Bennett (1955- 2014) was born in Monto, Queensland. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. One reason is that I felt I had gone as far as I could with the postcolonial project I was working through. The Politics of Art. These images are fused and overlapped in a dynamic composition underpinned by Mondrian-style grids. They powerfully describe pain and violence. Bennetts pictures leave us with questions rather than answers, with complexities rather than simplicities as if the origins of truth, identity and ideology are in metaphors and signs rather than in things, and hence are layered and relative Ian McLean 1. Finally, Ive never been one to make art about art before. Citizens more recent work includes a series of interiors inspired by the decorator and home magazines that circulate widely in popular culture. The only clearly defined part of Possession Island is the black skinned male figure in the centre. 1 Bill Wrights interview with Gordon Bennett in Gellatly K with contributions by Clemens, Justin; Devery, Jane; and Wright, Bill Gordon Bennett National Gallery of Victoria exhibition catalogue, Melbourne, 2007, During his childhood in the 1950s and 60s, Bennett lived with his family in Victoria and Queensland. Particularly when academics claim that they are afraid of expressing their 'true' findings for fear of losing their careers. Gordon Bennett an Australian Aboriginal artist demonstrates this theory through his work. Aim to use a variety of strategies in your work to engage the viewer in the issues and questions you are interested in exploring in relation to these binary opposites. while Bennett may have attempted, in recent years, to disconnect from the politics of his earlier practice, there is also a sense within these paintings, of the impossibility of such a task. Bennett was in possession of all four, all of which will become evident upon a glance at a summary of his life. If God cannot be contained, can humanity be contained by stereotypes and labels? Bennett has often used dots in his artworks as part of his investigation of issues of identity, and history. Find examples of the work of these artists. However the hand in the opposite panel controls and threatens the Aboriginal figure represented as a jack- in- the- box. Within the context of Australian art, he freed himself from being categorised solely as an Indigenous artist by creating an ongoing pop art-inspired alter ego named John Citizen. Nearby Recently Sold Homes. Bennett's work is held in over 100 public and private collections, including many major state institutions such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. This approach involved a flattening of the picture surface and often the use of disparate visual elements or styles borrowed or copied from different sources. Buildings and planes collide. This is evident in many of his works, including Outsider. Bennetts referencing, appropriation and recontextualisation of familiar images and art styles challenges conventional ways of viewing and thinking and opens up new possibilities for understanding the subjects he explored. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island, 1991, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas; two parts, 162 x 260cm (overall). Clear visual divisions are created with distinct black areas as well as large white areas. The artist has effectively communicated his beliefs on the suppression of Aboriginal culture by combining confronting imagery with the concepts of Vincent Van Gogh, Francisco Goya and Classical art. He found this liberating. Discuss with reference to examples in at least two works by Bennett. Different members of the class could be assigned different cultural traditions to research and then prepare an illustrated presentation for the class. Pollock was influenced by Navaho sand paintings, which were created on the ground. The Bicentenary celebrations triggered increased activism, protests and public debate related to Indigenous issues. They became a potent symbol of the celebrations. Why might such an organisation purchase this painting? Like many others at that time, Bennett was inspired by the work of the historian Henry Reynolds. Discover Gordon Bennett's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Lindt created many photographic portraits of Aboriginal subjects. Underlying Bennetts admiration for Basquiat was the need to re- contextualise the issues that he had explored throughout his career as an artist. Bennetts distinctive visual language repositions the subject of the work, claiming the Aboriginal perspective as central to the historical moment of the original painting. The central figure is based on a monoprint made from the artists body. Image: Gordon Bennett, Australia 1955-2014, Possession Island, 1991. Opens in a new window or tab. The images include historical footage of Indigenous people and details of some of Bennetts own paintings. How does this interpretation and analysis compare to your own? Discuss with reference to one or more works by Bennett. The artist Gordon Bennett led a reclusive life. What legal, moral and ethical rights does an artist have to control the way their work is seen and viewed in exhibitions, books or online. Voir plus d'ides sur le thme toile de lin, basquiat, art australien. Gordon Bennett 1. Research references to existing images in Gordon Bennetts The nine richochets (Fall down black fella, jump up white fella) 1990. The first panel of Bennetts triptych, Requiem, depicts Trugannini (c. 1812 1876), a Palawa woman from Tasmania. But the oppressive and restrictive laws that governed the lives of Aboriginal people in Australia until the late 1960s continued to impose on her life. Bennett used 9/11 and its global impact three months after the event as the stage for his discourse on cultural identity. Bennett depicts self as a black empty vessel, coffin- like with lash markings almost disguised by a thick layer of black paint. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island, 1991, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums; Daniel Boyd, We Call Them . In a letter written to Basquiat after his death, Bennett writes: To some, writing a letter to a person post humously may seem tacky and an attempt to gain some kind of attention, even steal your crown. Why? Bennetts art engages with historical and contemporary questions of cultural and personal identity, with a specific focus on Australias colonial past and its postcolonial present. Bennett was concerned that his identity and work was seen as coming from a narrow framework. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island #2, 1991. Today. 4 While artists often have limited control over how their work is exhibited after it has been sold, Bennett also refused to exhibit his work in Aboriginal art exhibitions, preferring: to be conceived as a contemporary artist who just happens to be indigenous and whose work encompasses an investigation of aboriginality and the construction of identity within a broad range of complex and interconnected issues. Reynolds wrote books and articles about the history of Australian settlement as a story of invasion and genocide. Often the basic alphabet letters ABC also appear with Bennetts perspective diagrams, highlighting the learned and culturally specific nature of the alphabet and linear perspective. During 199495 at summer school Bennett learnt to make digital videos on an Apple PowerMac computer. The simplicity of I AM suggests a universality of thought. In the Christian tradition light is associated with goodness and righteousness while darkness is associated with evil. Although there are many forms of Aboriginal art, dot painting is widely seen as synonymous with Aboriginal art since the late 1970s, when the dot painting of the Western Desert attracted unprecedented national and international interest in Aboriginal art. On each corner of the grid are the letters A B C D . SOLD FEB 21, 2023. Lichtenstein 19231987). Using a painting technique, create a finished artwork based on one or some of these experiments. Get this The Morning News page for free from Friday, July 7, 1972 Q90 wSu Fairfax Shopping Center Doily 10-6. What does Bennetts goal for his work suggest to you about how he views the role of art? Art about art seems appropriate for the time being. In 1989, a year after graduating from art college, his work was included in the high profile Australian Perspect a exhibition of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It is based on a newspaper photograph of Bennetts mother and another young Aboriginal woman, dressed in crisp white uniforms, polishing the elaborate architectural fittings in a grand interior of a homestead in Singleton. There was still no space for me to simply be. Research the representation of three dimensional space in selected artforms of several different cultures (ie. The content of the work was getting to me emotionally. What evidence can you find of Bennett conceptually examining the ideas behind the emotion, and extrapolating from there? Discuss in relation to selected artworks by Bennett that you believe reveal questions and complexities, rather than answers and simplicities. Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 27, Identities come from somewhere, have histories, and like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Literally opening up this black skin of paint are the words cut me. The inclusion of the grid as the foundation of the installation appears to confirm this. Both artists have an affinity with Jazz, Rap and Hip Hop music. Bennetts interest in adopting a strategy of intervention and disturbance in the field of representation manifests in many different ways in his art. Captain James Cook arrived there in 1770 and claimed ownership of the entire eastern coast of Australia in the name of King George III. This was soon replaced by a cooler, more conceptual approach. Gordon Bennett's "Outsider" is a highly emotive piece that conveys various ideas through appropriate symbolism. 4. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the NGV is built. Bellas Gallery. Gordon Bennett (9 October 1955 - 3 June 2014) [1] was an Australian artist of Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. Amidst the chaos and confusion of dots and slashes of colour he remains imprisoned by the grid, reduced to servitude. Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. I am that I am, Exodus 3:14 is God naming self. Bennett simultaneously obscures and draws attention to the Aboriginal man standing next to Cook, overlaying an abstract geometric shape which recalls constructivist art and the Aboriginal flag. $927,000 Last Sold Price. ), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2007, p. 101, Gordon Bennett, Conversation Bill Wright talks to Gordon Bennett, p. 97, the visual qualities and symbolism of art elements such as colour and shape, the symbolism and representation of subject matter/content (including text), the appropriation of the work of other artists, the presentation of the artwork (ie.