Gebraucht | Gewerblich. He lived and worked in Brisbane. Bennett used 9/11 and its global impact three months after the event as the stage for his discourse on cultural identity. How do these systems/conventions reflect values and ideas important to that culture? He states: The traditionalist studies of Anthropology and Ethnography have thus tended to reinforce popular romantic beliefs of an authentic Aboriginality associated with the Dreaming and images of primitive desert people, thereby supporting the popular judgment that only remote fullbloods are real Aborigines. The other was 'Number . The performance that forms an integral part of this work shows a tall indistinct figure (Bennett) prowling around a stage- like setting illuminated by a rapidly changing pattern of images, text, light and colour. In Possession Island No 2 this figure is concealed and transformed into an abstract totem or geometric monument coloured with the signature black, red and yellow of the Aboriginal flag. These sources included social studies texts. James Gordon Bennett Include a selection of relevant artworks by Gordon Bennett to illustrate your timeline. They communicated important Christian stories to the congregation. Such imagery has often been used by artists to unsettle the viewer and present new perspectives on familiar subjects. His use of I AM emphasises this. There was still no space for me to simply be. Gordon Bennett rapidly established himself in the Australian art world. Here Bennett raises questions and matters about the stories that define us personally and culturally, and about the complex relationship that has existed between the Christian church and Indigenous cultures through history. While 2007 was a brilliant year for Bennett's secondary market results, with eight works sold of which . Nearby homes similar to 2719 NE 21st Ter have recently sold between $824K to $1M at an average of $565 per square foot. Blood is a potent symbol and has historically been a measure of Aboriginality. Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. Inspired, Pollock removed the canvas from the easel and worked with it flat on the floor, using movement and gesture to flick and drip paint onto the canvas. Gordon Bennett 6, I first learnt about Aborigines in primary school, as part of the social studies curriculum I learnt that Aborigines had dark brown skin, thin limbs, thick lips, black hair and dark brown eyes. Explain how these images might have influenced perceptions of Australian identity? The inclusion of Pollock helps build these cross- connections. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007. He is not disturbed by slashes of paint, but painted carefully and outlined by the precise grid behind him. His identity must remain fluid. For many Aboriginal Australians, these celebrations were instead received as a period of mourning and a time to remember the devastating consequences of colonisation on Aboriginal people. Gouged into the skin like a tattoo, these markings will never heal or fade away. By the late 1980s there was also a growing awareness within Australian society of the injustices suffered by the Indigenous population as a result of their dispossession. The dynamic juxtaposition of images, sound and other effects made possible by video, introduced new dimensions to Bennetts investigation of issues and ideas related to identity, history and language. This event was re-enacted in many pageants and dramatisations during Australias Bicentenary in 1988, as a way of celebrating 200 years of Australian history. Bennett purposefully constructed these layers to blur fixed ideas and raise questions about the way identity is constructed. It has been designed for teachers and students to instigate discussion and investigation, and includes learning activities relevant to history and visual arts that can be adapted to different levels. 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. The word DISPERSE was used by the colonisers to represent the killing of Aboriginal people. scale, format), Ian McLean Gordon Bennetts existentialism in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, Roseville East, 1996, p. 69, Ian McLean Gordon Bennetts existentialism, p. 71. The grid and perspective lines are another recurring symbol in Bennetts work. Possession Island No 2 is representative of Bennetts wider practice, which explores issues of post-colonisation and Aboriginal identity. The titles of Bennetts artworks reflect the artists awareness of the power of words/language to suggest meaning. Looking at the image from different viewpoints helps us to discover different perspectives. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. In contrast to earlier artworks, where titles often provided a starting point for exploring ideas or issues, Bennetts abstractions are titled with numbers that relate to the order in which they were made. Gewerblich. Kelly Gellatly 1. The grand Romantic landscapes of Western art were intended to inspire the viewer with their dramatic beauty and effects of illusion. . Gordon Bennett 2. Gordon Bennett 1. I did drawings of tools and weapons in my project book, just like all the other children, and like them I also wrote in my books that each Aboriginal family had their own hut, that men hunt kangaroos, possums and emus; that women collect seeds, eggs, fruit and yams. In 2003, Bennett embarked on a series of non-representational abstract paintings, marking a dramatic shift in his art practice, formally and conceptually. Western art has a long tradition of creating an illusion of three- dimensional space on a flat surface. The persistence of language references the way language controls and defines how we understand ourselves and our world. The coming of the light also explores ideas, issues and questions related to the Enlightenment values central to colonialism. The process of translation from one version to the next mimics how history is endlessly translated and transformed by the vagaries oftime and by individual perspectives. But, in the late 1990s, some residents . Well-known Australian and international artists whose works are referenced in different ways in Bennetts work include Hans Heysen, Margaret Preston, Imants Tillers, Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Colin McCahon and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bellas Gallery. Appropriation art is an established postmodernist strategy defined as: The direct duplication, copying or incorporation of an image (painting, photography, etc) by another artist who represents it in a different context, thus completely altering its meaning and questioning notions of originality and authenticity.1. Felicity Allen, Gordon Bennett interviewed by Felicity Allen in the. From early in his career he was inspired by theories and ideas associated with postmodernism. 2014. "I want a future that lives up to my past": the words from David McDiarmid's iconic poster reverberate now, as we ponder the past year and think ah. The artist Gordon Bennett led a reclusive life. Gordon Bennett did not describe himself as an appropriation artist. Such images have defined the nations settlement history for many generations of Australians. Gordon Bennett arrived on Christmas Island in 1979 to take a post as leader of the Union of Christmas Island Workers. May 20, 2022 - Explore Benny O's board "Artists" on Pinterest. Research references to existing images in Gordon Bennetts The nine richochets (Fall down black fella, jump up white fella) 1990. The absence of the Aboriginal servant and the scuttling footprints in Possession Island No 2 suggest the physical dispossession that was to follow once the British claimed ownership of the land. But in Bennetts painting disparate diagrams, symbols and images disrupt the illusion, presenting the landscape as a site where many ideas and viewpoints compete. John Citizen is an artist for our times: he reflects back to us citizens the white Australia of the postKeating era. Looking closely at the central panel we realise that the luminous sky is described with the dots that Bennett used in early works to signify Aboriginal art. Gordon Bennett Possession Island , 1991 Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas 162 x 260cm Museum of Sydney Gordon Bennett The Coming of the Light , 1987 Acrylic on canvas 152 x 274cm Queensland Art Gallery Collection All Artworks Subscribe Submit Follow Sutton Gallery 254 Brunswick Street Fitzroy 3065 Image credit: Gordon Bennett - Possession Island (1991). Experiment with enhancing or diminishing different layers to create a distinctive character. He holds a large whip with which he regularly lashes out at a black, coffin- like box. Gordon Bennett (1955-2014) is one of Australia's most important contemporary artists, and his works have received increasing critical acclaim over the past years - culminating with his retrospective exhibition at the QAGOMA in Brisbane, 'Unfinished Business: The Art of Gordon Bennett'. Collection: Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums The only clearly defined part of Possession Island is the black skinned male figure in the centre. 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. Discuss with reference to selected artworks by Gordon Bennett. After working in various trades in his early life, Bennett enrolled as a matureage student at Queensland College of Art in 1986 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) degree in 1988. This includes a focus on the role and power of language, including visual representations, in shaping identity, culture and history. Gordon Bennett is an Australian artist of Aboriginal descent. These joint acquisitions by MCA and Tate include two large video installations, one by Susan Norrie (Transit 2011) and another by Vernon Ah Kee (tall man 2010), two paintings by Gordon Bennett (Possession Island (Abstraction) 1991 and Number Nine 2008) and an artist book by Judy Watson consisting of sixteen etchings with chine coll (a . McCahon uses I AM to question notions of faith. How ideas might be encountered from different places and events interest him. This image is based on a photograph by JW Lindt (1845 1926). 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. Watch. Today a monument exists on the site commemorating his arrival. Gordon Bennett Number Nine, 2008 Acrylic paint on linen 71 9/10 119 7/10 in | 182.5 304 cm Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) The Rocks Get notifications for similar works Create Alert Want to sell a work by this artist? After years of critiquing art-historical standards, Bennett has himself become the standard bearer. Bennett depicts self as a black empty vessel, coffin- like with lash markings almost disguised by a thick layer of black paint. Gordon Bennett (1955-2014) voraciously consumed art history, current affairs, rap music and fiction, and processed it all into an unflinching critique of how identities are constituted and how history shapes individual and shared cultural conditions. Using a painting technique, create a finished artwork based on one or some of these experiments. Gordon Bennett Possession Island (Abstraction) 1991 In Tate Modern Level 3: A Year in Art: Australia 1992 Level 3: A Year in Art: Australia 1992 Artist Gordon Bennett 1955-2014 Medium Oil paint and acrylic paint on canvas Dimensions Support: 1843 1845 mm Collection Tate Acquisition | Tate Images. From early on in his successful career, curtailed by his death in 2014 at age 58, he was well-known for disrupting the status quo with his unique visual language. SOLD FEB 10, 2023. 22-24, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 32, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, pp. Possession Island (Appendix 1) 1991 and Notes to Basquiat (Jackson Pollock and his Other) (Appendix 2) 2001 will be discussed in relation to Henri's statement. One of the longterm goals for my work is to have my paintings returned to the pages of text books from which many of the images in them originated, where they may act as sites around which a more enlightened kind of knowledge may circulate; perhaps a knowledge that is understood from the outset as culturally relative Gordon Bennett 4. Discuss different approaches/ideas evident in the way each artist uses dots in their work. Bennett investigates the way stereotypes are constructed by exploring words and images in opposites. As one of the dispossessed within this biased history, he claims that his only tool to combat this bias was the art of mimicry. I am purposely not defining him only as Aboriginal because he himself does not want to be defined only as such. The mirror at the bottom left-hand corner of the painting represents Bennetts own shaving mirror. John Citizen lets me take my Australian citizenship and cultural upbringing back from the netherworld of the imagined Other. Dates/events to consider and research include the 1967 Australian Referendum, the 1992 Mabo and 1996 Wik Native Title court cases, Paul Keatings 1992 Redfern address. In a real sense I was still living in the suburbs, and in a world where there were very real demands to be one thing or the other. Theosophy means god wisdom, the belief that everything living or dead was put together from basic blocks that lead towards consciousness. The headless figure of the Aboriginal man has an animated, spectre- like presence that haunts the scene. Gordon Bennett Australia 1955-2014. Suggest reasons for the similarities and differences that you find. Reflecting the colours of the Aboriginal flag, splashes and drips of red, yellow and black paint across the surface of the painting quote the distinctive style of Jackson Pollock (19121956), which Bennett began to sample in 1990. These include the tall ship and the appropriated logos featuring kitsch and racist references to Indigenous people, and the ominous juxtaposition of bags of flour and bottles of poison. This is the second of two works entitled Possession Island that Bennett painted following Australias bicentennial celebrations in 1988. The left explodes with images of 9/11, the devastatingly unforgettable attacks in the United States, including New York. In the third panel of Bennetts triptych, Empire, a Roman triumphal arch frames a stately figure. are they representative of different cultural identities)? These images are fused and overlapped in a dynamic composition underpinned by Mondrian-style grids. The imagery in this painting focuses on binary opposites, including the Aboriginal figure and various symbols of European and Indigenous art and culture . He drew on and sampled from many artists and traditions to create a new language and a new way of reading these images. Buildings and planes collide. Research the representation of three dimensional space in selected artforms of several different cultures (ie. Gordon Bennett 1. Gordon Bennetts art challenges us to question the stereotypes and racist labelling of Aboriginal Australians found in some history books written for and by Europeans. GORDON BENNETT AND HIS RACES From the Book: Die Gordon Bennett Ballon Rennen (The Gordon Bennett Races)by Ulrich Hohmann Sr along with articles by others.Many of his contemporaries have considered Mister James Gordon Bennett to be a spleeny American. Altarpiece paintings traditionally occupied a central position in a church. Bennett's 'unfinished business' was to encourage a great sensitivity and action in terms of these conditions," said Ms Stanhope. Gordon Bennett 3, Bennett married in 1977. Roundels relating to symbols that denote significant sites in Aboriginal Western Desert dot painting also appear. The Stripe series of abstract paintings represents a kind of freedom for me as an artist. Possession Island No 2 1991 is a painting that shows the British explorer Captain James Cook and other compatriots hoisting the Union flag to claim the eastern coast of Australia for the British Crown in 1770. Discuss with reference to a range of artworks by Bennett. While some people may argue this has been a quick road to success, and that my work is authorised by my Aboriginality, I maintain that I dont have to be an Aborigine to do what I do, and that quick success is not an inherent attribute of an Aboriginal heritage, as history has shown, nor is it that unusual for college graduates who have something relevant to say. 'Bloodlines' The figure is dressed in tattered western clothing. Appropriation was a tool that enabled him to open up and re-define stereotypes and bias. Lichtenstein 19231987). In the context of the other panels, which are all figurative, this black square could be seen as an absence, and possibly a representation of the oppression of indigenous voices by history. The simplicity of I AM suggests a universality of thought. Create an artwork in a medium of your choice that highlights how the meanings, values and ideas associated with these binary opposites influence perception and understanding. Symbols such as these highlight his awareness and use of visual images, forms and elements as signs. The mirror, a recurring symbol within his work, is not a two- dimensional illusion but a literal construct. The motivation behind the abstract paintings was complex but in part it reflects Bennetts ongoing concerns about issues related to the reception of his work. a moment of possession; the place where he came ashore and allegedly claimed . Get this The Morning News page for free from Friday, July 7, 1972 Q90 wSu Fairfax Shopping Center Doily 10-6. Kelly Gellatly 5, By the mid 1990s, Gordon Bennett came to feel he was in an untenable position. Identify other artists who have used dots in their work (ie. Possession Island (Appendix 1), 1991 and Notes to Basquiat (Jackson Pollock and his Other) (Appendix 2), 2001, will be discussed in relation to Henri's statement. Image: Gordon Bennett, Australia 1955-2014, Possession Island, 1991. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007 The viewer is made to step back and allow the eyes to form the images. Bennett not only used Basquiat images, but begins to paint in his style. Bennett used Blue Poles to recall this period of change. It is a monument that also unintentionally signals the subsequent dispossession of Aboriginal people from their homeland. We would like to hear from you. Do you agree? Since 1992 Bennett was involved in an ongoing non-performance by refusing to participate in public lecture programs in Australia. Born in Monto, Queensland, Bennett was a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art . Against the background of the illusionistic representation of the landscape they capture our attention, alerting us to the fact that there are other ways of representing and understanding the landscape not just the European perspectives that have dominated our cultural history. While personal experience has had a significant influence on Gordon Bennetts art practice, the autobiographical aspects of his work are framed by bigger ideas and questions that have relevance and significance beyond Bennetts own experience. Acutely aware of the frame, I graduated as a straight honours student of fine art to find myself positioned and contained by the language of primitivism as an Urban Aboriginal Artist. Discuss in relation to selected artworks by Bennett that you believe reveal questions and complexities, rather than answers and simplicities. Performance with object for the expiation of guilt (Violence and grief remix) 1996, is a remix of an earlier video performance work, Performance with object for the expiation of guilt, 1995. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, pp. Read through the profiles and market analysis for the top 200 Indigenous artists An Anthology of writings on Australian Art in the 1980s & 1990s, IMA Publishing, 2004, p. 273, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett Craftsman House, 1996, p. 58, Kelly Gellatly, Citizen in the making, p.18, Kelly Gellatly, Citizen in the making, p. 17, John Citizen artist profile, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne http://www.suttongallery.com.au/artists/artistprofile.php?id=39 accessed 29/11/07, Conversation Bill Wright talks to Gordon Bennett, in Kelly Gellatly with contributions by Bill Wright, Justin Clemens and Jane Devery, Gordon Bennett (exhib. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, this was a time to mourn the devastating consequences of 200 years of colonisation. It was no accident that Bennett used this event to question the way history is written and interpreted. There are many visual signs that recur throughout Bennetts artworks, including: Each of these signs brings significant meaning to Bennetts work and plays an important role in his investigation of issues and ideas related to identity, understanding and perception. Lists of words draw the viewer into a game of word association. Gordon Bennett 1. 2 February 2021. Here he exposes the truth of colonial occupation it was a bloody conquest. Such accolades and critical recognition are keenly sought by many artists. Bennett indicates the need to be reconciled within the context of culture and history to develop a full sense of identity. In this work Bennett directly references historical British sources, namely Samuel Calverts (18281913) colour etching Captain Cook Taking Possession of the Australian Continent on Behalf of the British Crown AD 1770 c.185364 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne), which is itself a copy of John Alexander Gilfillans (17931864) earlier, now lost, painting of the same title. Bennetts use of dots highlights the way Aboriginal cultural identity continues to be defined and confined by Western ideas of Aboriginality. He used strategies such as deconstruction and appropriation to present audiences with new ways of viewing and understanding the images and narratives that have shaped the nations history and culture. Bennett was interested in the way language and images construct identity and history, and the way this language controls and creates meaning. Discuss with reference to Possession Island. However the hand in the opposite panel controls and threatens the Aboriginal figure represented as a jack- in- the- box. Neither had I thought to question the representation of Aborigines as the quintessential primitive Other against which the civilized collective Self of my peers was measured. This was soon replaced by a cooler, more conceptual approach. Bennett continued to work in new ways with materials, techniques and images throughout his career. Its like images become part of the Australian unconscious. 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. There are a number of reasons why I began painting abstract paintings that focused on overt visual phenomena, as opposed to explicit visual content. 3 Baths. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007. It exposes the pain these stereotypes create. Since his first major solo exhibition in 1989 his work has been at the forefront of contemporary Australian art and has been recognised internationally for its innovative and critical engagement with ideas and issues of ongoing relevance to contemporary culture. The juxtaposition and sequencing of words and images in Untitled is unsettling. Mixing of pure blood with European blood was feared by Europeans, authenticity was at risk and identity diluted. His use of the perspective diagrams to frame and contain the figure of his mother alludes to the impact the values and systems of European culture have had on the lives of Indigenous people. Other aspects of the image, including the flat, stylised shapes of the head, reflect connections to both Western abstract art and Indigenous art traditions. He described this knowledge as a psychic rupturing. For example, Aboriginal deaths in custody was recognised as a significant issue. The strategy of word association subverts the values and meaning traditionally associated with the image. Physically, the kitsch Aboriginal motifs copied from Preston are trapped. This was common practice among young Aboriginal girls and women. Art about art seems appropriate for the time being. Are these qualities perceived as positive? The early 'Possession Island' (Abstraction))' 1991 was one choice. What systems and/or conventions are used by each culture to represent three dimensional space? Possession Island displays a photocopy of Samuel Calvert's engraving, Captain Cook . At the same time his work demonstrates great conceptual unity and interconnectedness. Self portrait (But I always wanted to be one of the good guys), 1990 questions how stereotypes create a sense of identity. Gordon Bennett . He was born in New York, May 10th 1841 and died 4 days after his 77th Birthday in Beaulieu near Nizza/France. A gush of blood red paint shoots into the sky from his body. Bennett also had ongoing concerns about how his Aboriginal identity and his interest in subjects related to Aboriginality were framing and hence limiting the way his artistic identity and his work were perceived.