AGWA Collection

Finding solace in the Gallery

Phoebe — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 06:07:31 +0000

Finding solace in the Gallery

Robyn O'Neil Crowd scene 1 2014 (detail). Graphite and oil pastel on paper, 31.2 x 36.8 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2014.

Phoebe Thu 27/08/2020 - 2:07pm

3 September 2020

From the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement to the sweeping impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, 2020 has undoubtedly been a year of extremes. At times like these, we are reminded of art’s unique capacity to comfort, connect us to each other and provide a vehicle for confronting injustice. Recently our curators selected a series of works from your State Collection that capture different experiences of COVID-19 as well as foregrounding narratives about racism and Australia’s own complex history.

Works by artists including Willy Lenski, FriendsWithYou, Atelier van Lieshout, Robyn O’Neil, Reko Rennie and Tony Albert invite reflection on the fragility and uncertainty of life: its ambiguities, cycles, warmth and connections. Explore how these works resonate with your own recent experiences in this selection from the AGWA Contemporary gallery.

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FriendsWithYou Little cloud 2013. Vacuum-formed acrylic, 76.2 x 60.9 x 48.3 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2014.

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We view the cloud emblem as an enduring symbol of love and light. It has the power to transcend the viewer to a relaxed and joyous state, revealing that everything in our world has a soul and a purpose—a spiritual essence. This animist perspective reflects in our work as a sweet visual soundscape, casting a positive message of happiness and connectivity.

FriendsWithYou Collective

Reko (Gwaybilla) Rennie⁣ Message sticks 2009⁣. Spray paint and synthetic polymer paint on linen⁣, 198 x 85 cm each (6 panels in total)⁣. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia⁣. Purchased through the TomorrowFund, Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2010.

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Reko Rennie's Message sticks presents rows and rows of spray cans as a reflection on the the new and old ways that Aboriginal people have communicated across the millennia. Each spray can is imprinted with a traditional Kamilaroi linear shield design, symbolising a continuum of tradition and culture.⁣ From his early career as a graffiti artist to now, Reko Rennie has explored how issues around identity, social justice and a sense of place can be expressed through art.

Viviane Sassen Ivy 2010. C-type print/dark frame ed 4/8, 125 x 100 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2012.

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Viviane Sassen’s series Parasomnia references a sleep disorder characterised by sleepwalking, and thus existing in a state between dream and reality. Shot in deliberately unidentified locations in Africa, the series was her way of processing complex childhood memories of the continent where she lived as a young child. While for her working within the conceptual framework of parasomnia is a way to understand her personal connection to Africa, her work carries an incredible stillness created between the real and the surreal.

Willy Lenski Life may be seen as a gesture 1987. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on jute, 50.9 x 92.2 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 1988.

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This work by American painter Willy Lenski, Life may be seen as a gesture, depicts the dance of life. A dance celebrating survival after a plague, a return to cycles of living and life as it was before. Completed in 1987, this work reflected on the AIDS epidemic where fear kept the community divided, but human connection kept it together. This work has shades of light and dark, a shared moment of sadness and joy. We grieve what we have lost but celebrate moving forward together.

AGWA Contemporary installation view, 2020. Atelier van Lieshout Sensory deprivation skull 2007. Reinforced fibreglass, 150 x 110 x 137 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2008.

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Made by the Dutch-based designer Joep van Lieshout for his anarchic free state AVL-Ville in Rotterdam, this contemporary memento mori doubles as a refuge from the business of modern life, a haven for introverts, a cosy and sensual space for one.

Robyn O'Neil Crowd scene 1 2014. Graphite and oil pastel on paper, 31.2 x 36.8 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2014.

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Robyn O’Neil’s exquisitely perfect and large graphite drawings usually depict turbulent landscapes with a lonely figure or several disconnected ones. Using coloured oil pastels and squeezing her people together on a small picture plane, O’Neil thought she was setting herself up for failure—deliberately—as a means of pushing through a creative rut. During the time the Gallery was shut to the public, it was this work that I would think of and crave to share the most.

Dunja Rmandić

AGWA Curator

Tony Albert “MISUNDERSTANDING” 2020. Acrylic spray paint on vintage velvet painting, 36 x 26 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2020. © Tony Albert. Image courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf.

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Through his practice and collection of Aboriginalia—featuring the voiceless and the nameless—Tony Albert reveals the many voices and stories behind the objects, and reinforces that the conversations and connections they involve will always be complex and nuanced, time after time.

Sally Brand

National Gallery of Australia

“MISUNDERSTANDING” responds to the devastating detonation of explosives by mining giant Rio Tinto in May this year, which destroyed two sacred rock caves at Juukan Gorge, north-west of Tom Price in the Pilbara, which dated back more than 46,000 years. Albert’s velvet series draws on his collection of Aboriginalia: domestic and tourist artefacts that include images of Aboriginal people, their cultural objects and designs.

See these works and more in this recent rehang of our AGWA Contemporary gallery and Concourse space. With certain works including Reko Rennie's Message sticks on display for a just a few more weeks, don't miss out on seeing this thought-provoking selection in person this month.

AGWA Collection

AGWA Contemporary

Contemporary art

FriendsWithYou

AGWA

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From the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement to the global impact of COVID-19, 2020 has undoubtedly been a year of extremes. Recently our curators selected a series of works from your State Collection that reflect recent events.

AGWA Contemporary Rehang

Re-Imagining History

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 03:42:51 +0000

Re-Imagining History

tanya.sticca@a… Thu 09/07/2020 - 11:42am

21 August 2018

August 11th marked an important day in AGWA history, as the Gallery celebrated the reopening of its Historical Collection; part of the permanent AGWA Collection displays which spans across many time periods in Australian and international art.

Moving from the Centenary Galleries, the historical collection is now located upstairs alongside AGWA Six Seasons, Screen Space and the contemporary craft and design in AGWA Design.

The reopening of AGWA Historical offers an exciting opportunity to revisit the Gallery’s permanent collection and experience the works in a new and refreshing way.

“There is a lot of architecture in the Centenary Galleries which impacted on the display,” said Melissa Harpley, Curator of Historical and Modern Art.

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Moving the historical works into the main gallery space has taken that visual interference out so that you can see the works differently. As a curator, it enabled me to make some interesting groupings and provided more flexibility in the placement of works than was possible in the Centenary Galleries.

Melissa Harpley

AGWA Curator of Historical and Modern Art

Unlike the Centenary Galleries, which is mostly comprised of long-established square rooms, the central gallery space is designed in a triangular shape, which enhances the viewing of the collection.

“What is so fantastic about this building is the fact that it doesn’t have right angles,” she said.

“It allows those visual connections which are important for art. You can stand in some spaces of the gallery and see a 1860s landscape, but you might also see a Heidelberg landscape and a Hans Heysen from 1914. You couldn’t do that in the Centenary Galleries.”

The AGWA Historical will undergo two separate iterations. The first hang coincided with another important historical exhibition, Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series which opened the same day.

There’s one point where Ned Kelly and Historical share a wall, and we’ve managed to design the show, so the Ned Kelly work sits next to the Hans Heysen. I think there’s a nice connection between not only the approach to the Australian landscape but even down to the two men on horses echoed in both paintings.

Melissa Harpley

AGWA Curator of Historical and Modern Art

Hans Heysen Droving into the light 1914-1921. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Gift of Mr W H Vincent, 1922.

Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly 1946 from the Ned Kelly series 1946 – 1947. Gift of Sunday Reed 1977. National Gallery of Australia.

The second iteration of AGWA Historical is scheduled for November and Melissa said she is excited about the upcoming curatorial possibilities and encourages the public to attend both reprises of the collection.

“Looking at the works in the historical collection, particularly the ones with figures, humans haven’t changed. The works from the past are still very much a meditation or commentary on what it means to be human and what it means to be in the world,” says Melissa.

“I think people will connect with that because it’s as relevant now as it was then.”

Glimpse into the collection

Find out more about the AGWA Historical Collection visit our website artgallery.wa.gov.au

Free Guided Tours
Join a free guided tour of AGWA Historical or one of our other fantastic collections.

AGWA

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August 11th marked an important day in AGWA history, as the Gallery celebrated the reopening of its Historical Collection; part of the permanent AGWA Collection displays which spans across many time periods in Australian and international art.

Launch of AGWA’s Historical Collection

Add some bling to the State Art Collection

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 06:57:13 +0000

Add some bling to the State Art Collection

Dinosaur Designs Collar bone 2014 (detail). Resin and rope, 85 x 152 x 14 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Peter Fogarty Design Fund, Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2014. © Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy; Dinosaur Designs, 2014.

tanya.sticca@a… Wed 08/07/2020 - 2:57pm

12 July 2018

On 13 October the next exhibition in AGWA’s successful Culture Juice program will open. It’s called Beyond Bling! and it will celebrate the art, design and craft of jewellery, showcasing the best, the bizarre and the sophisticated jewels in AGWA’s historical, contemporary and Indigenous collections.

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Some of our most loved works at the Gallery are to be found in our jewellery holdings. Indeed, we’ve got the most sensational array of historical, modern and contemporary rings, brooches, neckpieces, bracelets, as well as those strange semi-sculptural objects that are a little bit of all of those forms.

Robert Cook

AGWA Curator Contemporary Design and International Art

“While we’ve offered our audiences strong selections of jewellery in our Craft and Design Triennials, and in our solo displays of makers such as WA’s David Walker, and the late internationally renowned maker Mari Funaki, it’s an area that has not been seen as a big group in decades. Our happy antidote to this is a show called Beyond Bling! We’re all totally passionate about it. It will take visitors on a dazzling journey of this most intimate, most personal and sometimes most outrageous of art forms. And yes, preparing the show has been an amazing experience. Literally, so many riches!”

“Excitingly, our old favourites will be joined by numerous new acquisitions, acquisitions that we have been steadily making to continually address the developments in this field, locally, nationally and internationally. As incredible as these are, it’s our belief that we can go even further.”

There is a unique opportunity for audiences to contribute toward the acquisition of new jewellery pieces, for both the State Art Collection and display in the upcoming exhibition. As curator Robert Cook explains, “We can make an even bigger impact. We can set our collective sights on transforming this collection area with some new acquisitions that will make us the envy of design collections the world over. We have the platform to be truly amazing.” Those who contribute can visit AGWA in October to see the outcome of their support.

AGWA’s Director, Dr Stefano Carboni, reinforces the impact of philanthropy on what AGWA can achieve.

I believe that art matters, it is meaningful, and it should be shared so that we can all embrace it with imagination and passion. By collecting works of art for your Gallery, we are building a dynamic and continuously evolving collection for the benefit of all Western Australians, now and into the future.

Dr Stefano Carboni

AGWA Director

“The piece pictured above by Dinosaur Designs was purchased through the AGWA Foundation in 2014. It holds a special place in the State Art Collection and provides a source of inspiration for visitors whenever it is on display, and so too will the new acquisitions that you can support. Together we can weave a stronger cultural fabric for all of WA.”

You can donate online now or for further information, you can call the AGWA Foundation on +61 8 9492 6761 or email foundation@artgallery.wa.gov.au.

AGWA

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On 13 October the next exhibition in AGWA’s successful Culture Juice program will open.

Next Collective Ambassadors

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 04:46:54 +0000

Next Collective Ambassadors

Next Collective Ambassador, Annabel Keogh. Photography by Mac1 Photography.

tanya.sticca@a… Tue 07/07/2020 - 12:46pm

5 February 2019

AGWA launched the Next Collective last year – a new group for young professionals who want to make a difference in the arts and have a say in the direction of the beloved State Art Collection. Propelling the group forward are four ambassadors, selected for their contribution and passion for Western Australia arts.

We sat down recently with Next Collective Ambassador Annabel Keogh, a corporate affairs professional, to talk about how she – together with other Next Collective Ambassadors; artists, Tarryn Gill and Ian Strange and lawyer, Dr Andrew Lu OAM – is embracing her new role in encouraging more young people to take an interest in the arts and why this is important for the growth of the Western Australian creative community.

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Annabel, you’ve been involved with AGWA for a while now. How did you become involved as an Ambassador for Next Collective?

I’ve been involved with the Gallery for a couple of years originally through the Friends of AGWA which was one of the main reasons I was asked to come on board, to look at how to encourage more young people to engage with the Gallery. When the Friends of AGWA dissolved, that’s when I got involved with the Gallery’s Next Collective program.

So, what makes Next Collective differ from any other AGWA membership and/or unique for that matter to any other arts philanthropy program out there?

Next Collective takes your interest in the Gallery to the next level. There’s a gap in the market with people who want to give back and feel connected to institutes like the Gallery but they’re unsure of how to. The average person looks at it and thinks, ‘That’s out of my league’. The Next Collective is an opportunity to get involved. It’s also different because it’s not a passive membership, which differs from the average philanthropy program. You can be active through this program, have a say in and see where your donations go. I think it’s a more satisfying experience than your average membership opportunities.

As a Next Collective member, what opportunities will you experience?

The opportunities being explored are about connection – meeting new people, not only within the gallery but also throughout the community, and others who love art. I think it’s also the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of what happens at the Gallery. See how it works, which is what most people are interested in. It’s something you often don’t get the chance to do as a member of the general public.

Next Collective Launch at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Photography by Mac1 Photography.

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This is an unexplored territory for AGWA. How do you see the Gallery benefiting from this new group?

I think the Gallery will be able to connect with a new generation of people who are interested in supporting institutions, and get a broader sense of ‘what is important’ for the community. It’s a great opportunity for the Gallery to reach out and ask what attracts people and what Perth is interested in and tailor their programs for a new group of people that are not the average taste. You get the chance to tap into a different vibe, and a different demographic, and I think that gives AGWA the opportunity to expand and be more innovative and grow in different directions.

Thinking of joining the Next Collective and championing the arts here in Western Australia? Contact our Foundation Office on 9492 6761 or foundation@artgallery.wa.gov.au, or visit our website artgallery.wa.gov.au for more information.

The Next Collective is supported by the Minderoo Foundation.

AGWA

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AGWA launched the Next Collective last year – a new group for young professionals who want to make a difference in the arts and have a say in the direction of the beloved State Art Collection.

making a difference in Western Australian arts

The Botanical in Peril

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 07:03:48 +0000

The Botanical in Peril

Makaela Rowe-Fox organiser for the School Strike 4 Climate movement.

tanya.sticca@a… Mon 06/07/2020 - 3:03pm

20 August 2019

This month, as part of our AGWA Pulse program, the Art Gallery of WA was the setting for an inspiring and thought-provoking panel discussion on climate change. Featuring young climate activists ranging in age from 16 to 23, these young voices brought clarity and urgency to the immense challenges facing our planet today. Here, they share their thoughts on the kinds of actions we can take – both large and small – to set the world on a different path.

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How Do We Save the World? Climate Change Panel Discussion at AGWA.

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Makaela Rowe-Fox

I am sixteen years old and an organiser for the School Strike 4 Climate movement. I participate in national and state calls, outreach to groups, unions and schools, and I have spoken/chanted/occupied at the major March 15 and May 3 strikes earlier this year.

Why do I strike and organise these events? Because I want a future on this planet. We are living in a climate crisis. Already we are experiencing extreme changes to weather conditions with unprecedented droughts, floods and other natural disasters across the planet. We cannot wait until the effects of what’s occurring now are visible from our kitchen windows – we must act as pre-emptively as is still possible to minimise the effects of climate change. This means compelling the government to abandon fossil fuels, invest in 100% renewable energy NOW and to draw down carbon through intensive reforestation.

I am privileged to be able to be an artist and performer. I dance with Co3 – the flagship contemporary dance company in WA – and also act with the Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Art allows us to view the world in creative and critical ways. We can see this through AGWA’s exhibition, The Botanical: Beauty and Peril, which showcases work that discusses the climate crisis.

The phrase “business as usual = extinction” applies to artists as much as anyone else. We can’t rely on people to take up our calls for change. We need to be the ones taking action alongside everyone else. I am currently involved in organising the September 20 action which is a global strike: not just students, but everybody. It is expected to be the biggest collective human action this planet have ever seen.

Rachel Rainey

A lot of people find climate change an overwhelming issue and feel like there’s nothing that they can do that will make a real difference in combatting it. I would like to encourage those people to see the film 2040 – it really helps to view the climate crisis from a solution-based perspective and provides a lot of suggestions on how you can help join the fight.

While you’re waiting to see the film, try changing your search engine to Ecosia (which plants one tree for every 45 searches), and changing your super fund to Future Super (zero investments in fossil fuels and financial performance in the top quartile of Australian super funds) – all it takes to switch is ten minutes and your tax file number.

It is really exciting and empowering to see so much community support behind climate action, to have a platform for youth voices to speak on the subject, and to have people truly listen and engage with these young people.

Rachel Rainey

The panellists discussed a wide range of topics related to the climate crisis.

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Chelsea Andrews

Climate protest and activism are good, but I think especially in this day and age it’s not going to be enough to make change. With the political right on the rise, I think it’s only making people angrier. Just shouting at our government isn’t going to make action happen. Potentially more helpful ways include meeting with local MPS to discuss climate and how they can help, writing EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) submissions or looking out for projects that ask for public comment.

What do I believe it will take to save the world? State and nations coming together to tackle this crisis. International policy has worked in the past, as we saw with the Montreal Protocol, which is now seeing the ozone layer repair itself! The Paris Climate Agreement isn’t strong; but it could be improved with more investment and learning from successful measures like the Montreal Protocol. The Paris Climate Agreement needs sanctions and realistic targets for anything to work.

Artists have a great place in climate change action, albeit secondary. They aren’t afraid to confront the world, and expose what their truths are. Art can be a very emotional thing and call many people to action. However, I think the issue is that its main audience is the privileged: once art can be enjoyed by all, I think a lot more good and empowerment can come from it.

Follow the work of these inspiring young people through organisations including School Strike 4 Climate, Millennium Kids and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

AGWA Pulse

The Botanical: Beauty and Peril

AGWA Collection

Janet Holmes à Court Collection

Climate Change

AGWA

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This month, as part of our AGWA Pulse program, the Art Gallery of WA was the setting for an inspiring and thought-provoking panel discussion on climate change.

Young Voices on Climate Change

Rewinding the Panorama

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 06:44:34 +0000

Rewinding the Panorama

Sohan Ariel Hayes Panoramic View of Albany (Kinjarling), The Place of Rain 2019 (detail). Advisors: Lynette Knapp (Menang Noongar) and Prof. Stephen Hopper AC⁣. Three channel digital video colour⁣, 5760px x 1080px, 25fps, 2.1 sound, 10’08” minutes edition: 1 of 3⁣. Commissioned for the Janet Holmes à Court Collection.

tanya.sticca@a… Mon 06/07/2020 - 2:44pm

5 September 2019

Currently showing at the Art Gallery of WA, The Botanical: Beauty and Peril exhibition brings together works from the State Art Collection and that of Janet Holmes à Court in a wide-ranging, and often bracing look at representations of the Australian landscape.

Among the works on display is the striking video piece Panoramic View of Albany (Kinjarling), The Place of Rain (2019), by Perth-based media artist Sohan Ariel Hayes, in which he reinterprets an 1834 panoramic etching of Albany by British surveyor Robert Dale.

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Perth Media Artist Sohan Ariel Hayes with his work Panoramic View of Albany (Kinjarling), The Place of Rain (2019).

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This reinterpretation of a perhaps notorious work in the exhibition – the etching is notable not just for its panoramic format but also the gruesome fact that it was first exhibited in London alongside the decapitated head of Noongar leader Yagan – prompted extensive research into the social and environmental history of the original print. Read on for an interview with Sohan Hayes in which he shares his insights on a number of concerns and themes raised in his work.

Working with archival materials has been a key part of your practice for some time now. What was it about this Robert Dale etching in particular that captured your interest?

The panoramic format first grabbed my attention – I can’t think of any other panoramic images done in Western Australia before 1900, so it’s kind of unusual. Then there are these striking tableaux of Menang people and soldiers across the foreground of the view. From all the research that we’ve gathered, the view appears to be nineteenth century real estate propaganda. I mean it looks quite beautiful – it’s a picturesque image of Albany a few years after settlement – but actually its purpose was to sell something. It’s advertising a land opportunity and was a powerful vision that attracted investors to the Swan River enterprise. In the act of doing so the work becomes a story about dispossession: the stripping of the rights of the Menang people without their knowing or consent.

Can you tell me a bit more about the research process that went into developing this work, and how you drew out the ‘invisible histories’ in the original?

This work has also been reimagined by other Western Australian artists, Christopher Pease and Gregory Pryor, so those works feed into the dialogue around this one. A key link has been conversations with (Menang Noongar Elder) Lynette Knapp and (WA botanist) Stephen Hopper. Stephen Hopper had actually just done a couple of lectures on the fact and fiction of the Dale panorama. So I went and spent some time with the two of them, using Stephen’s scientific background and Lynette’s Menang/Noongar knowledge. And we just did these passes across the painting and all of this detail came out of that. Obviously we can’t include all of that detail, so there’s this emotional, intuitive response which comes out in the work; a simple shift from day to night, from summer to winter storm, this rain like tears when these monsters begin to appear.

With this work being specifically commissioned for the exhibition, was there any sense of responding to AGWA as a historical and cultural site itself?

Good question. Dale’s print has been shown regularly in the past by AGWA, but never alongside the descriptive pamphlet by Dale which was originally distributed with the print and an illustration of the head of Noongar warrior Yagan. By placing this new work next to the original print, the intention is to trigger a dialogue between the two images. Once you’ve seen the new work, I don’t think you can ever look at the original print in the same way again.

Sohan Ariel Hayes Panoramic View of Albany (Kinjarling), The Place of Rain 2019. Advisors: Lynette Knapp (Menang Noongar) and Prof. Stephen Hopper AC⁣. Three channel digital video colour⁣, 5760px x 1080px, 25fps, 2.1 sound, 10’08” minutes edition: 1 of 3⁣. Commissioned for the Janet Holmes à Court Collection.

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The depiction of a numbat in the mouth of a feral cat is a striking image. How does this representation of invasive species define the work as a whole?

Once The Botanical co-curator Laetitia Wilson and I got talking about how there’s an invading species which is the Europeans, at the same time they are also bringing along other invasive species – rats and cats and rabbits and so on. So we started to play with images of those invasive species becoming feral and all the killing that has resulted and continues as we speak, every night and day. The fat cat is a monstrous image and, as a phrase, often represents someone who’s got too much wealth and has become gluttonous.

The work shows a huge storm sweeping the landscape, which then dies away with clear skies returning as the video loops. Does this hint at a sense of hope for how we might approach these issues differently in the future?

This was an idea that came from discussions with Kingsley Reeve who created the sound track for the work. There is a connection with the moving panorama of the mid-nineteenth century which we mimic digitally here – where they literally used to rewind the painting on a scrolling mechanism to restart it – and so we tried to rewind sound and image and found the effect mesmerising. The result is that the work doesn’t really have a start or end – it just keeps oscillating. It suggests a potential for change. In connection with the environment now, if we don’t change course, there is a great storm coming. Or are we already in it?

How do you think the colonial and conquest-oriented mentality represented in Dale’s etching links to wider environmental issues we are faced with today?

This whole capitalist expansion in the 19th century was, in part, a great mechanism of turning nature into profit at zero cost. There was the technology and finances to take advantage of the so-called ‘land opportunity’ here in this country and convert it into profit. I think it’s really important to look back and understand that mechanism, to understand those it benefited and those it dispossessed. After all this is not something that was done once – the engine’s been running rampant repeating the cycle of dispossession all over the entire globe and now it threatens to cost us the earth.

What role do you think art and artists have in bringing public attention to the kinds of environmental issues that are highlighted in the exhibition?

I think as artists we’ve got a responsibility to help tell stories – to make them personal. My good friend, Anna Kosky, who puts together Writer’s Week for the Perth Festival, said she was at a conference on climate change earlier this year and one of the key scientists said that they’ve done all they can, now it’s up to the artists to tell the stories. That’s a big ask, but I think we can help shape a vision, to help shed light on reality, to encourage deep thinking and sustained action.

The Botanical: Beauty and Peril runs until 4 November.

Sohan Ariel Hayes

The Botanical: Beauty and Peril

AGWA Collection

Janet Holmes à Court Collection

Digital art

AGWA

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Currently showing at the AGWA, The Botanical: Beauty and Peril exhibition brings together works from the State Art Collection and that of Janet Holmes à Court in a wide-ranging, and often bracing look at representations of the Australian landscape.

Interview with Artist Sohan Ariel Hayes

Human Figure, Myths and Politics

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 06:12:56 +0000

Human Figure, Myths and Politics

Khadim Ali Untitled 1 [from the Fragmented memories series] 2017-2018. Gouache, gold leaf and ink, 170 x 214.5 cm (framed, nine individual components). State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through the Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2019.

tanya.sticca@a… Mon 06/07/2020 - 2:12pm

11 October 2019

Presenting works from 1970 to today, the AGWA Contemporary collection reveals the wide span of contemporary art practice with its diverse range of media, themes and identities. A recent collection display curated by AGWA Associate Curator of 21st Century Arts Dunja Rmandić gives particular emphasis to the human figure as a conduit of symbols, hero status, myths, cultural references, fantasies and stereotypes across different cultures. While the majority of works feature the human figure in one way or another, a recurring theme sees the subject’s eyes or faces obscured, masked or otherwise turned away, echoing the complexity of identity politics. Read on for Rmandić’s insights on some of the display’s key works.

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Christian Thompson Down Under World [from the We bury our own series] 2012. C-type print, 98 x 98 cm each. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased through The Leah Jane Cohen Bequest, Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2015. © Christian Thompson, 2012.

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Based on a research project at the Pitt-Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, Christian Thompson’s We Bury Our Own series looks at ritual practice and the possibilities offered by art for a kind of spiritual—if not physical—repatriation.

Thompson is very mindful of the politics and the semiotics of the gaze and in this series he positions non-Indigenous cultural materials and references into a pool of spirituality and ritual, playing with the ideas of heritage, originality and history.

Abdul Abdullah The disaffected by product of the colonies 2014. C-type print on aluminium, 155 x 110 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2015.

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Abdul Abdullah’s provocative Siege series features the artist wearing a mask from the most recent Planet Of The Apes film as a potent symbol of ‘Otherness’ and cultural displacement. Abdullah explicitly engages with politics in his practice and has spoken about how the September 11th attacks in particular have influenced his identity as an artist.

[Abdullah] sees his brother, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, as being an artist of the pre-September 11th period and himself as an artist of the post-September 11th period. He was a teenager at that moment, and everything changed for him. Overnight, young Muslim men were seen as terrorists, as a threat, as the quintessential ‘Other.’ When you are a minority, and regardless of who you feel you are, your identity can be determined by external factors, with no control over those perceptions and the ways that you are defined and categorized, and they were for Muslim men all around the globe and continue to be for minorities.

Abdul Abdullah Aussie icons (Kylie, Elle and Lleyton) 2013. Oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2015.

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Taken from Abdul Abdullah’s 2013 series Homeland, the balaclava-clad figure we see in Aussie Icons is a ‘composite face,’ featuring one eye each of Kylie Minogue and Elle MacPherson, alongside the characteristically vocal mouth of Lleyton Hewitt.

The unsettling image that results invites us to think differently about these individual’s place in the national psyche—and to what extent this is shaped by their own Anglo-Saxon heritage.

By using white cultural references and signifiers of beauty we’re asked: what would you do if you were confronted by these people in masks? We look at things differently when it’s white people underneath the masks, but they could still be robbing your home.

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Ali grew up hearing from his grandfather the recitation of the Book of Kings (Shahnama), a late 10th century epic poem composed by Firdousi that marks the beginning of modern Persian language. The poem recounts the virtuosity and shortcomings of kings from the beginning of time to the advent of Islam but also of the powerful forces beyond them, epitomised by the divs or daemons. Reflecting on the way his people, the Hazara, have been treated and persecuted since the 1920s, Ali has used the divs from the miniature paintings illustrating the epic as an allegory of the Hazara.

There are layers of histories with people and countries that we in the West tend to skim over, especially in the media. Afghanistan after September 11, for example, is seen as a very two-dimensional space: a space ravaged by war and difficult people. It’s a simple formula of good versus evil, us and them, that helps dehumanise and desensitise. I think for a lot of people who come from countries where conflict has occurred, seeing that conflict portrayed as two dimensional is a very painful thing. We don’t see the beautiful things that happen in Afghanistan, or hear the success stories; or the stories of people not wanting any kind of war. And we don’t consider that people from those places value beauty, history and tradition the way we do; Ali’s works speaks to all these sentiments.

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Big Moon 2015. Black stain, pencil, ply, 75 x 75 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2015.

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Positioned above the display like the awe-inspiring ‘super moons’ that can be seen when the Earth’s tilt makes them appear low in the sky, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah’s Big Moon brings a sense of universality to the collection of works below it, whilst also carrying its own highly specific cultural meaning.

The moon by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah is referencing the month of Ramadan and for him the full moon represents the halfway point where, as a child, all he had to do was get through another two weeks. What I really love is that he connects the cultural, religious and scientific elements by showing the moon as a celestial object which we all imbue with meaning—a real thing in the universe as opposed to a dreamy kind of cultural symbol.

Harnessing the moon’s cross-cultural significance in this way, its prominence in the space works to unify and balance the disparate and often opposing identities featured in this striking collection of works.

Read more about the AGWA Contemporary collection here. This collection display runs until February 2020.

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah

Contemporary art

AGWA

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Presenting works from 1970 to today, the AGWA Contemporary collection reveals the wide span of contemporary art practice with its diverse range of media, themes and identities.

Curator Insights with Dunja Rmandić

Unmasking the hidden history of colonial Western Australia

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 05:48:09 +0000

Unmasking the hidden history of colonial Western Australia

Christopher Pease b. 1969, Minang/Nyoongar Reaper 2015 (detail). Oil on muslin on board (42 panels), 168 x 294 cm. Courtesy the artist and Gallerysmith, Melbourne.

tanya.sticca@a… Mon 06/07/2020 - 1:48pm

7 January 2020

From an early age Western Australian artist, Christopher Pease displayed a talent for the arts. His mother Sandra Hill and brother Ben Pushman are also well-known Noongar artists with works included in many significant collections including AGWA, Janet Holmes à Court Collection, Kerry Stokes Collection and the National Gallery of Australia.

Trained as a graphic designer, Pease dabbled in art throughout his studies and later while working in hospitality. It wasn’t until 1999 that he produced his first serious painting titled Noongar Dreaming. This painting depicts Australian Rules football great Graham “Polly” Farmer’s nephew Peter Farmer standing on the Perth freeway which bears Polly’s name.

Another significant piece of artwork by Christopher Pease titled Reaper is currently on display in AGWA’s WA Journey Gallery as part of the Foundation’s annual appeal. Made up of 42 panels, this impressive artwork relays an important message about colonial Western Australia and its darker history.

AGWA’s Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Carly Lane hosted a live Q+A with Christopher about his work.

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Artist Christopher Pease with AGWA’s Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Carly Lane.

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Carly Lane: So, Reaper; what is it about? In twenty-five words or less.

Christopher Pease: In twenty – I don’t know if I can do that. When you’re an artist you find yourself looking back a lot. When you’re a Noongar artist, you’re always looking back. The first references came from my family; my mum, my aunties who would tell stories. After that, you look at the artwork that maybe other people don’t. Like Revel Cooper, I love his work. Then I was going into the museum archives, looking at artefacts and for Noongar iconography specifically, to find a Noongar visual aesthetic. I was trying to build my own visual language and then I stumbled across the Louis de Sainson prints.

Carly Lane: Who is Louis de Sainson?

Christopher Pease: He was a French watercolourist and draughtsman on the ship Astrolabe which sailed down to Albany in 1827 for a couple of months, and he did some really interesting stuff. There was a lot of early colonial artists that did work that I kind of was interested in because there was no photography and there is this translation that occurs. So, the drawings are made here, and then they go back to London where they’re turned into an aquatint, an etching – a lithograph and so there are sometimes weird things that happen in the translation. You don’t know exactly what’s real, and what’s accurate and what’s not accurate, so I’ve seen a lot of kind of questionable things. Robert Dale’s piece was the big one.

Carly Lane: Who is Robert Dale?

Christopher Pease: Robert Dale was a British Lieutenant who in 1829 arrived at the Derbarl Yerrigan (the Swan River) on the HMS Sulphur, and he ended up being the assistant surveyor to John Septimus Roe. He did a lot of surveying and was involved in projects all throughout Perth.

Carly Lane: He was about 19.

Christopher Pease: Yes.

Carly Lane: But had already built up this skillset.

Christopher Pease: Yeah, his skills were amazing. In 1832 he was in Albany, from January to May and during this time he wrote the account of King George’s Sound and did a series of sketches on top of this hill looking south overlooking King George’s Sound, and that was a panorama. The original panorama is three metres long, it’s a really beautiful lithograph – coloured lithograph – and I wanted to tackle that for years, like really early on, but I just didn’t feel confident in doing it. Finally, a couple of years ago, maybe four years ago now, I thought “That’s it, I’m going to tackle this work.”

Carly Lane: I feel like there’s a bit of déjà vu, because I do want to tell the audiences that we recently had the panorama that Robert Dale drew, and Robert Havell printed up in the Botanical: Beauty and Peril exhibition, and there was another work by artist Sohan Ariel Hayes that was a response to that print that was in the show as well.

Christopher Pease: Yeah. So, Robert Dale, at the same time that he was down in Albany, so was Yagan. Yagan was a cultural warrior here in Whadjuk territory and at the same time, the grants were being opened up in Perth. You’ve got private land ownership happening on the Derbarl Yerrigan, on the Swan River. There was an odd series of events that led to Yagan killing William Gaze. Yagan was caught and sentenced to death, but an outspoken settler named Robert Lyon convinced the judge to send him to Carnac Island instead. He ended up going to Carnac Island and then he escaped by boat back to the mainland. He later appeared at Lake Monger, doing Gidjee (spear) demonstrations, throwing, dancing, and also, in the Perth Botanical Gardens he was involved in events as well, so he was kind of given this kind of unspoken pardon, I guess.

Carly Lane: Julie Dowling, her painting titled Yagan 2016, talks about that event or, you know, it depicts the event at Lake Monger where he was throwing spears.

Christopher Pease: Yeah, yeah, they – they were, you know, throwing targets. You know and there’s a big article in the Perth Gazette where they remarked how amazing he was – Yagan was – his prowess in throwing, you know, weapons.

Christopher Pease b. 1969, Minang/Nyoongar Reaper 2015 (detail). Oil on muslin on board (42 panels), 168 x 294 cm. Courtesy the artist and Gallerysmith, Melbourne.

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Carly Lane: From what I understand about your most recent exhibition Minang Boodjar, it was a series of six paintings that all looked at King George Sound, and the Dale and Havell Panorama.

Christopher Pease: Reaper recreates the first part of the panorama and there’s a lot of interesting things happening in it. And there’s a lot of the things Robert Dale depicts in the panorama that is quite accurate. In the background, so you can see in the top right prescribed burning that was happening, so yeah there was a lot of prescribed burning. We can see in other parts – in the painting – there was possum hunting. So, some of the things that he was depicting were quite accurate. What happened was in 1833, Yagan was caught trespassing up where I used to live up in Swan Valley near Ellenbrook. He was caught trespassing and he was shot by two brothers, beheaded, and his head was put in a tree and smoked. Robert Dale ended up acquiring the head and in 1834 he went back to London where he looked to make a deal for Yagan’s head. It was during this time he met Thomas Pettigrew, who was a surgeon working in London. He was an antiquarian and he made a deal with Robert Dale for Yagan’s head. Pettigrew would host dinner parties in his home and after dinner, he would display his curiosities to his guests and Yagan’s head was part of that. As a souvenir, each guest was also given a print of Robert Dale’s panorama.

Apart from the back story, there’s obviously the lines in the painting that’s actually the real map of the exact area where the drawings took place and that relates back to Robert’s Dales work as a cartographer and surveyor. I decided to divide it up to represent the cutting up the land and putting up boundaries. The reaper is the reference to death and if you look at tarot cards it also means change which is quite significant for that period as well. It was a fitting image that works well with what was happening at the time.

Reaper is currently on loan and we are asking for your help to give it a permanent home in the State Collection. Find out here

Donate by contacting our Foundation office on +61 8 9492 6761 or email foundation@artgallery.wa.gov.au

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For the Joy of It

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 05:14:17 +0000

For the Joy of It

Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi with artwork: G F Watts Una and the Red Cross Knight 1869 (detail). Oil on canvas. 167.3 x 184.7 cm (framed) 134.6 x 152.4 cm (sight). State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 1959.

tanya.sticca@a… Mon 06/07/2020 - 1:14pm

9 March 2020

In a special ceremony on International Women’s Day this month, long-serving AGWA Gallery Guide Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi was inducted into the Western Australian Women’s Hall of Fame for her extensive contribution to arts and culture in this state.

Instrumental in launching the Voluntary Gallery Guides in 1977, Dorothea has played a vital role in making the Gallery’s rich collection and exhibitions accessible to the varied audiences that attend each year.

We caught up with Dorothea to hear more about her career as a guide and how the Voluntary Gallery Guides association – and the Gallery – have evolved over the years.

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A favourite work in the AGWA Collection. G F Watts Una and the Red Cross Knight 1869 (detail). Oil on canvas, 167.3 x 184.7 cm (framed) 134.6 x 152.4 cm (sight). State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 1959.

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You were one of the original guides who came together to form the Voluntary Gallery Guides association. Could you tell us a bit more about how it all came together?

Well, my job in life was as a physiotherapist. And when my children were little, I decided I didn’t want to work, but I needed something to keep my brain going. I enrolled in a fine art course at Claremont Technical School and it opened a whole new world to me. When a couple of friends said that they’d been doing some research here at the Gallery and suggested starting the Guides, I said, wonderful. I just love being around works of art. We started off with about twenty people who loved art, who were artists or people who’d done this course (at Claremont Technical School).

How do you think the guiding philosophy has changed over the years?

I think it’s evolved in different ways. Everyone does it differently. But I really like to get the public talking with me. People enjoy it so much more if they can be involved. We don’t really want people just giving a lecture.

When I started, we didn’t have an official training course – we virtually trained ourselves. Now we have this training course and the emphasis is on ways to guide. When we do tours, we think it’s important to have links so that you have a reason to move from one painting to another and you’ve got a theme to take you through.

AGWA Voluntary Gallery Guide Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi, 1992.

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Do you have any particular stories that come to mind about tours you’ve done or people you’ve met along the way?

Once when I had a children’s tour, there was this little fellow who didn’t seem to be very interested and then gradually came out of himself and started talking. In the end, he said, “I’m going to go home and get my mum and dad to come into this Gallery!” He would have been about nine or 10. It was so rewarding because you don’t often get feedback like that.

And one of the funny ones, this is the Sidney Nolan exhibition (Landscapes and Legends, 1987) – I had a huge crowd of around 50 people. At the end of the tour I said, “if you’ve got any questions, I’ll try to answer them.” A hand went up; and this woman said “could you tell me where you get your hair cut?” (laughs)

How do you feel the Gallery’s collection or exhibitions have changed since you’ve been a Guide?

When we first started guiding, there was hardly any Aboriginal Art and we kept saying: when people come from overseas, they want to see something that’s different; that is not other European artists, but our own works of art that are quite different from anywhere else. The first Aboriginal Art exhibition we had was the Art of the Western Desert exhibition (1979). Now, of course, we have plenty of Aboriginal Art and that’s great. But it took a long time to build up the collection and to build up the understanding that there was an audience for it. I feel that’s a great progression that has happened.

What does being a guide at AGWA mean to you?

What I think a guide should do is enrich people’s understanding of our own work, our own history and our own culture; but also the history and culture of other countries.

I just love being around works of art and I loved communicating it to the public, especially if they would join in. I loved being able to open their eyes, when I could. And because I was also a physiotherapist, which is a very practical and scientific based thing, it was a lovely balance. I just found it a joy to do.

Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi

AGWA Voluntary Gallery Guide

Guided tours bring the State Art Collection to life and offer visitors unexpected ways to engage deeply with artworks, exhibitions and their connections to West Australian history.

Experience how a guided tour can enrich your visit to the Gallery by attending a free Wesfarmers Arts guided tour of the State Collection and special exhibitions, running Wednesday – Monday. Free private tours can also be booked for small groups by contacting educate@artgallery.wa.gov.au (four weeks’ notice required).

AGWA Collection

Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi

AGWA Voluntary Gallery Guides

Wesfarmers Arts guided tours

Western Australian Women's Hall of Fame

AGWA

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WA Women’s Hall of Fame Honouree Dorothea Hansen-Knarhoi on her Long Career as an AGWA Guide

Lesley Murray’s ‘Black Soldier’

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 02:28:32 +0000

Lesley Murray’s ‘Black Soldier’

Lesley Murray Black soldier 1994 (detail). Linocut, 55 x 105 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2001.

tanya.sticca@a… Fri 26/06/2020 - 10:28am

7 April 2020

Lesley Murray Black soldier 1994. Linocut, 55 x 105 cm. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Purchased 2001.

Lesley Murray’s Black Soldier is a commemorative work which has both personal and public resonance. A heartfelt tribute to the artist’s grandfather, the work has also assumed broader significance as a symbol of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ role in the Australian Defence Force, as well as in the early frontier wars.

Presenting the archetypal image of the Australian Digger in full uniform and slouch hat, the words ‘Black Soldier’ underscore how Indigenous military service has been marked by patterns of anonymity and under-recognition.

While Indigenous servicemen often experienced a sense of equality and camaraderie among the troops at war, they did not receive the same recognition and support as their counterparts upon their return.

Alice Springs, December 1942. (Source: Australian War Memorial).

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As Leslie Murray noted when exhibiting the work in 2001, it was in recent decades that “the RSL and the Australian Government came to recognise the efforts and sacrifices made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Indigenous servicemen’s names were excluded from Australian War Memorials and unlike non-Aboriginal veterans, they were not given land once back in Australia. Murray’s own grandfather, promoted to Lance Corporal during the Second World War, only received his medal in 1989.

Black Soldier forms part of a series of linocut prints celebrating the life of her grandfather William Murray. While the works hold great personal meaning for Murray, having helped her grieve his death in 1994, she also intended to make a broader statement about Aboriginal experience and their role in defending Australia over the years.

Special platoon consisting of volunteer Aboriginal soldiers, Number 9 camp at Wangaratta, December 1940. (Source: Australian War Memorial).

Many fought and lost their lives fighting in alien lands, for not only their country, but in the hope of making their situation in Australia better for their families.

Lesley Murray

Artist

Hear more about Lesley Murray’s ‘Grandfather series’ in this AGWA TV interview:

AGWA

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Lesley Murray’s Black Soldier is a commemorative work which has both personal and public resonance.

Remembering Indigenous Military Service on ANZAC Day

AGWA Collection

Finding solace in the Gallery

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Re-Imagining History

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Add some bling to the State Art Collection

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Next Collective Ambassadors

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The Botanical in Peril

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Rewinding the Panorama

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Human Figure, Myths and Politics

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Unmasking the hidden history of colonial Western Australia

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For the Joy of It

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Lesley Murray’s ‘Black Soldier’

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