Three painted terracotta pots by Arrernte–Luritja artist Irene Entata depict three distinct periods in Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira’s life, including the sad circumstances of his death. One of the foremost artists of the Hermannsburg Potters, Irene Entata (1946–2014), is known internationally for her unique painted ceramics. Much of her art fondly depicts a time that…
Vernon Ah Kee is a Brisbane-based Aboriginal contemporary artist who has risen to the forefront of urban-based conceptual art practice. Ah Kee was born in Innisfail, North Queensland and his triptych neither pride nor courage 2006 (illustrated) is part of a series of large-scale hand-drawn family portraits. On two of the three panels, Ah Kee…
Unconventional types of damage require unconventional treatment strategies. This is certainly true for the collaborative major treatment QAGOMA’s paintings conservation team completed on Gordon Bennett’s (1955 – 2014) Number three 2004, a significant diptych painted in acrylic on Belgian linen. Bennett is well-known for his highly figurative narrative-driven commentaries on Australian colonial history and contemporary…
Continue reading » “Conserving Gordon Bennett’s diptych ‘Number three’”
With great sadness, we acknowledge the recent passing of Kumantje (Michael Nelson) Jagamara AM (b.c.1946-2020). One of the foremost champions of the Western Desert painting movement, Kumantje was a dynamic innovator of Papunya’s second wave of painters, known for creating evocative newforms to portray his ancestral inheritance, He was also a deeply respected Warlpiri/Luritja Elder…
Distinctive ceramic works by Naomi Hobson mark not only a new direction in her art practice, but also a celebration of Indigenous culture and people coming together over great distances. Naomi Hobson is one of a new generation of contemporary Indigenous artists who is already making her mark nationally. Hobson is from the Kaantju/Umpila language…
Gordon Bennett (1955–2014) created the triptych Bloodlines 1993 early in his career. It speaks of colonial violence and the consequences of being on the ‘wrong’ side of history, purchased in 2019, this powerful and sobering work is a major acquisition for the QAGOMA Collection. ‘Bloodlines’ Preliminary sketches for ‘Bloodlines’ In his lifetime, Bennett was widely…
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.