No easy answers in the art of Gordon Bennett 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. Lieutenant General Henry Gordon Bennett | Australian War Memorial The powerful exhibition stirring debate on Australian Aboriginal - Hero . 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. Remembering Gordon Bennett, the man who saved Christmas Island The vanishing point may also be understood as the point from which these lines extend outward past the picture plane to include the viewer in the pictorial space, positioned as observer of a self contained harmonious whole. Since 1992 Bennett was involved in an ongoing non-performance by refusing to participate in public lecture programs in Australia. 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. Particularly when academics claim that they are afraid of expressing their 'true' findings for fear of losing their careers. 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. Art Guide Australia January/February 2021 - Issuu What systems and/or conventions are used by each culture to represent three dimensional space? Van Goghs original bedroom evokes a feeling of peace and harmony. I AM is borrowed from a well known art work, Victory over death 2, 1970 by New Zealand artist Colin McCahon (19191987) . As the foundation of a system of representation, perspective produces an illusion of depth on an essentially flat two dimensional surface by the use of invisible lines that converge to a vanishing point. What key themes and ideas are explored in the book/film? Like words, visual images, forms and elements are powerful signifiers of meaning. Do you agree? Gordon Bennett 1. I decided that I was in a very interesting position: My mind and body had been effectively colonised by Western culture, and yet my Aboriginality, which had been historically, socially and personally repressed, was still part of me and I was obtaining the tools and language to explore it on my own terms. Why do artists such as Gordon Bennett and Tracey Moffatt (b.1960) systematically decline to participate in exhibitions of Aboriginal art? cat. JeanMichel Basquiat, crowned a black urban artist, was well known for his spontaneous and gestural paintings, which reflect the artists involvement in the graffiti culture of the United States. The mirror, a recurring symbol within his work, is not a two- dimensional illusion but a literal construct. Bennetts interest in adopting a strategy of intervention and disturbance in the field of representation manifests in many different ways in his art. I am that I am, Exodus 3:14 is God naming self. This image also translates to mean: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Would you include work by Gordon Bennett in a text book on Australian history. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA). Bennett has often used dots in his artworks as part of his investigation of issues of identity, and history. After years of critiquing art-historical standards, Bennett has himself become the standard bearer. 2. The mirror at the bottom left-hand corner of the painting represents Bennetts own shaving mirror. The Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828) used the power of the grotesque in the Disasters of war series, which depicts some of the atrocities that took place in Spain during the War of Independence (1814-18). The background colours and features of the landscape in each panel of Requiem, Of grandeur, Empire suggest a vast Australian desert . This pastiche of style and image is like a D J (Disc Jockey) sampling and remixing different styles of music to create new expressions. This education resource accompanies the retrospective exhibition Gordon Bennett (2008) which showcased 85 works by this internationally acclaimed Australian artist. ), 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. Bennett's art engages with historical and contemporary questions of cultural and personal identity, with a specific focus on Australia's colonial past and its postcolonial present. Media Releases - MCA, Qantas and Tate announce first series of ). EUR 7,81. He used familiar and recognisable images that are part of an Australian consciousness to explore and question the meaning of these images. Born in 1955 in Monto, Queensland, Gordon Bennett lived and worked in Brisbane before his unexpected death in 2014. Place each photograph on a separate layer, overlap and morph or merge all the portraits into one image. Bennett's 'unfinished business' was to encourage a great sensitivity and action in terms of these conditions," said Ms Stanhope. Egyptian painting or relief sculpture, Chinese scroll paintings, Aboriginal painting of the Western Desert. This was soon replaced by a cooler, more conceptual approach. May 20, 2022 - Explore Benny O's board "Artists" on Pinterest. (#100) GORDON BENNETT - Sotheby's If God cannot be contained, can humanity be contained by stereotypes and labels? Gordon Bennett rapidly established himself in the Australian art world. Bennett was concerned that his identity and work was seen as coming from a narrow framework. . Today a monument exists on the site commemorating his arrival. I have tried to avoid any simplistic critical containment or stylistic categorisation as an Aboriginal artist producing Aboriginal art by consistently changing stylistic directions and by producing work that does not sit easily in the confines of Aboriginal art collections or definitions. Bennett layered these two distinctly different artists with his own work work previously appropriated from yet another context. As a shy and inarticulate teenager my response to these derogatory opinions was silence, self-loathing and denial of my heritage. 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. my work was largely about ideas rather than emotional content emanating from some stereotype of a tortured soul. Possession Island (Abstraction), Gordon Bennett, 1991 | Tate Images Queensland-born, Bennett (1955-2014) was deeply engaged with questions of identity, perception and the construction of history, and made a profound and ongoing contribution to contemporary art in Australia and internationally. 2, I cant remember exactly when it dawned on me that I had an Aboriginal heritage, I generally say it was around age eleven, but this was my age when my family returned to Queensland where Aboriginal people were far more visible. 'Gordon Bennett!' - meaning and origin. - Phrasefinder The coming of the light suggests questions about the impact of Christianity on Indigenous cultures and people. Born in Monto, Queensland, Bennett was a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art . It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name. The Estate of Gordon Bennett. Gordon Bennett Possession Island (Abstraction) 1991 Oil paint and acrylic paint on canvas 1 843 x 1845 mm Tate and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased jointly with funds provided by the Qantas Foundation 2016 Estate of Gordon Bennett CZ: A lot of the featured artists have also created work since 1992. The imagery in this painting focuses on binary opposites, including the Aboriginal figure and various symbols of European and Indigenous art and culture . It recalls the way stereotypes, labels, identities and systems of thought are fixed. The other was 'Number . Celebrations continued throughout the year and gave renewed focus to traditional images and stories of the nations settlement history. What is your personal interpretation of the meaning and ideas in The coming of the light or Untitled ? They act as deep welts created when tissue scars. Possession Island No 2 is representative of Bennetts wider practice, which explores issues of post-colonisation and Aboriginal identity. How might John Citizen be seen as reflection of the post Keating era? Collection: Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums The Estate of Gordon Bennett As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. New perspectives on familiar images and stories are presented. Such images have defined the nations settlement history for many generations of Australians. For example, the association between the colour red and blood or violence is strongly influenced by the many representations and descriptions we are exposed to in Western culture, in which blood or violence is described/represented using the colour red. Experiment with enhancing or diminishing different layers to create a distinctive character. There is strong symbolism associated with the placement of the figure beneath the Roman triumphal arch. This canvas is loosely divided into three parts. Gordon Bennett | Australian art, Indigenous art, Australian artists Lichtenstein 19231987). These contrasting and complex meanings and ideas are not accidental. Black angels replace traditional white cherubs. Do these qualities reflect the reality of what it means to be Australian (ie. Landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay 1770 by E. Phillips Fox, for example, depicts Captain James Cook ceremoniously coming ashore at Botany Bay to claim the land for Britain. The jack- in- the box is surrounded by symbols, including the grid- like buildings and alphabet blocks, of the knowledge, systems and structures that represent an enlightened, civilised society. In Bennetts painting the bedroom becomes the site of violent conflict that involves complex and intersecting personal and cultural histories. 3 Beds. This purchase was indicative of a massive legislative reform program that had not been seen in Australian society for decades. This includes a focus on the role and power of language, including visual representations, in shaping identity, culture and history. Gordon Bennett 1. The purchase of this artwork by the Whitlam Labor Government (19731975) was fraught with controversy. The first panel of Bennetts triptych, Requiem, depicts Trugannini (c. 1812 1876), a Palawa woman from Tasmania. My intention is in keeping with the integrity of my work in which appropriation and citation, sampling and remixing are an integral part, as are attempts to communicate a basic underlying humanity to the perception of blackness in its philosophical and historical production within western cultural contexts. 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. In Interior (Tribal rug), 2007 the sleek modern design of the furniture is complemented by a Margaret Preston inspired tribal rug and an abstract painting by Gordon Bennett. John Citizen lets me take my Australian citizenship and cultural upbringing back from the netherworld of the imagined Other. As one of the dispossessed within this biased history, he claims that his only tool to combat this bias was the art of mimicry. One reason is that I felt I had gone as far as I could with the postcolonial project I was working through. Gordon Bennett (1955- 2014) was born in Monto, Queensland. $927,000 Last Sold Price. 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. But this approach is central to the way many people describe and analyse his work. Discuss with reference to the same works. These signs can also be read as evidence that disputes the claim that Australia was discovered terra nullius or nobodys land. Bennett compels the viewer to engage with and question the values and ideas of the artists he appropriated. Comparisons between Basquiat and Bennett often focus on the artists similar backgrounds and experiences. For given the artists own history of engagement, these works are not considered simple abstract paintings, but abstract paintings by Gordon Bennett; coloured or even tainted by, the history, concerns and associations of the artists earlier work. It demonstrates Bennetts understanding of the power of this image. Nearby Recently Sold Homes. In images such as these, Aboriginal people are often absent or relegated to the background. This work reflects our contemporary obsession with creating the perfect home filled with the latest must have designer style and material items. Gordon Bennett 1, For an artist whose practice was concerned with how labels and systems define and confine knowledge and perception, labels and categorisations such as aboriginal artist, or urban aboriginal artist that were often applied to his work through exhibitions, books and other commentaries presented many practical as well as philosophical issues, I am very aware of the boundaries of critical containment within the parameters of Urban Aboriginal Art, and have so far worked within these boundaries to try and broaden, extend and subvert them. marking the first car ever to touch the island's soil. Bennett employs this system using diagrams often labelled with acronyms, such as CVP (central vanishing point), that refer to key features of the system. These images, forever forged in our minds, are boldly depicted in Basquiats graffiti- like style. Basquiats signature crown hovers beneath a tag-like image of fire. The artist Gordon Bennett led a reclusive life. You might consider, scale, materials and techniques, perceptual effects. Most Australians were shocked and scandalised that public money was spent on something they neither appreciated nor understood. The facial features reflected in the mirror are blurred and distorted by roughly painted words typical racist remarks about Aboriginal people. Possession Island 1991 Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas Two parts: 162 x 260cm (overall) The Estate of Gordon Bennett Purchased with funds. Gordon Bennett 1. Another reason was to make people aware that I am an artist first and not a professional Aborigine. Gordon Bennett, The Manifestoe, Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett. What does this comment suggest to you about the purpose of Bennetts questioning of history? Create an illustrated and annotated timeline of the history of Australia since settlement. Bennett attempts to destroy the stereotypes to question notions of identity. Do you agree? What is your personal interpretation of the abstract paintings? The representation of Aborigines has been reduced to caricature. It was no accident that Bennett used Pollocks Blue Poles: Number 11. Nov 26, 2012 - The paintings of Gordon Bennett are loaded with graphic detail. Gordon Bennett 2. Bennett used perspective diagrams and visual symbols in Triptych: Requiem, Of grandeur, Empire . Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007. ART215: Topic 10 - Urban Aboriginal Art - Pinterest Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? They physically prevent the viewer from seeing the image clearly, but psychologically encourage the viewer to delve into the image more deeply and question: Where did these images come from that theyre relating back to in their minds in order to stage this re- enactment? Ian McLean 2. Who was Paul Keating? Gordon Bennett Possession Island - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf) or read online for free. He tried a career as an actuarial clerk, attending Hawthorn College after Balwyn State School. At the same time his work demonstrates great conceptual unity and interconnectedness. Scan these into the computer using a photographic software package like Photoshop. Gordon Bennett Possession Island - scribd.com ), Heide Museum of Modern Art , Melbourne, 2004 pp. The simplicity of I AM suggests a universality of thought. By overlaying perspective diagrams on images constructed according to the conventions of perspective, such as the landscape in Requiem, Bennett reminds us of the learned and culturally specific systems that influence knowledge and perception. Discuss with reference to selected artworks by Gordon Bennett. 27 oct. 2018 - Dcouvrez le tableau "GORDON BENNETT" de Bibishams sur Pinterest. They became a potent symbol of the celebrations. 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. He painted his most famous work, Guernica (1937), in response to the Spanish Civil War; the totemic grisaille canvas remains a definitive work of anti-war art. In the past Quadroon, was a socially acceptable term used to label Indigenous people as a way of establishing genetic heredity. From the beginning of his career, John Citizen had had a complex relationship with Gordon Bennett. He had identified with the experience of the fair complexioned, African-American conceptual artist Adrian Piper, who wrote: Blacks like me are unwilling observers of the forms racism takes when racists believe there are no blacks present. He found this liberating. He was in a sense all things to all people. From early in his career he was inspired by theories and ideas associated with postmodernism. It is reproduced in flat, bold and black line work. Discuss with reference to a selection of at least three works, clearly identifying stylistic shifts, and evidence of conceptual unity. 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. Watch. Opens in a new window or tab. 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. The central figure is based on a monoprint made from the artists body. . These binary opposites insider/outsider, black/white, primitive/civilised have had a powerful influence on perceptions of European and Indigenous people and culture. Possession Island displays a photocopy of Samuel Calvert's engraving, Captain Cook . Other significant works: Gordon Bennett, Possession Island; Glenn Brown, The Day The World Turned Auerbach; Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of the Living; Glenn Ligon, Notes on the Margin of the Black Book; Gabriel Orozco, Crazy Tourist; Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View The persistence of language references the way language controls and defines how we understand ourselves and our world. Outsider depicts, a decapitated Aboriginal figure standing over Vincent van Goghs bed, with red paint streaming skywards to join with the vortex of Vincents starry night. The grotesque in art is generally associated with bizarre, ugly or disturbing imagery. 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. Narratives of exploration, colonisation and settlement failed to recognise the sovereign rights (or sovereignty) of Australias Indigenous people. The work is a copy of a copy of a copy. Mixing of pure blood with European blood was feared by Europeans, authenticity was at risk and identity diluted. His work also includes performance art, video, photography and printmaking. At the heart of all human life is a concept of self. They absorb the flow of blood and recall the symbols often used in Aboriginal dot painting of the Western Desert to represent significant sites. Perhaps the most influential artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso may be best known for pioneering Cubism and fracturing the two-dimensional picture plane in order to convey three-dimensional space. Indeed, he explains that before the age of sixteen he was not really aware of his Indigenous heritage. Bennett only used two colours, symbolically, red and black. Bennett used 9/11 and its global impact three months after the event as the stage for his discourse on cultural identity. 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. He can be anything the viewer wants him to be: white, black or any shade in between, as was true of Australian citizens in general in our multicultural country. McCahon uses I AM to question notions of faith. In the following year he was awarded the prestigious Mot et Chandon prize with his painting The Nine Ricochets (Fall down black fella, jump up white fella), 1990. Cook, l'escroc du Pacifique - CASOAR Arts et Anthropologie de l'Ocanie L120238 Gordon Bennett. 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 . In European tradition these are seen as a means of mapping and defining space. In Unassailable heroes (Sweet Damper) Famous since Captain Cook, 1996 the motifs and symbols suggest issues and questions related to history and representation that concern Bennett. But in Bennetts painting disparate diagrams, symbols and images disrupt the illusion, presenting the landscape as a site where many ideas and viewpoints compete. Queensland-born artist Gordon Bennett (1955-2014) was deeply engaged with questions of identity, perception and the construction of history, and made a profound and ongoing contribution to contemporary art in Australia and internationally. 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 Response - Art Phantom Bennetts distinctive visual language repositions the subject of the work, claiming the Aboriginal perspective as central to the historical moment of the original painting. It is said that as a concession to Ireland ( because racing was illegal on British public roads) the British adopted shamrock green as their racing colour. The I am from Self portrait (But I always wanted to be one of the good guys) is replaced with We all are. For more information, visit: www.qagoma.qld.gov.au for details.