Discuss with reference to a selection of at least three works, clearly identifying stylistic shifts, and evidence of conceptual unity. 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. They reference the massacres of Aboriginal people in Myth of the Western man (White man's burden) (1992) and The nine ricochets (Fall down black fella, Jump up white fella (1990) and question the valorising of Captain Cook in Big Romantic Painting (Apotheosis of Captain Cook) (1993) and Possession Island (1991). The word DISPERSE was used by the colonisers to represent the killing of Aboriginal people. 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. It is a monument that also unintentionally signals the subsequent dispossession of Aboriginal people from their homeland. The persistence of language references the way language controls and defines how we understand ourselves and our world. L120238 Gordon Bennett. 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. For example, Aboriginal deaths in custody was recognised as a significant issue. Possession Island is a small island off the coast of northern Queensland, near the tip of Cape York, the most northerly point of mainland Australia. Linear perspective is a system for organising visual information. This painting is based on Samuel Calverts 19th-century etching Captain Cook Taking Possession of the Australian Continent on Behalf of the British Crown, AD 1770, itself a copy of a lost painting by John Alexander Gilfillan. 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. Egyptian painting or relief sculpture, Chinese scroll paintings, Aboriginal painting of the Western Desert. Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, this was a time to mourn the devastating consequences of 200 years of colonisation. What strategies have been used to communicate and explore these themes and ideas in the book/film? The only clearly defined part of Possession Island is the black skinned male figure in the centre. These images include scenes featuring tall ships, the landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay, and several scenes that reveal the violence and tension that often characterised the relationship between colonisers and the colonised. 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 purchase of this artwork by the Whitlam Labor Government (19731975) was fraught with controversy. Victorious soldiers triumphantly and ceremoniously paraded under such arches, sometimes accompanied by their captives. Get this The Morning News page for free from Friday, July 7, 1972 Q90 wSu Fairfax Shopping Center Doily 10-6. It confronts the bigotry and discrimination suffered by Aborigines, using a rich visual language based in both Aboriginal and Western traditions. This was common practice among young Aboriginal girls and women. In European tradition these are seen as a means of mapping and defining space. Discuss different approaches/ideas evident in the way each artist uses dots in their work. 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 simultaneously obscures and draws attention to the Aboriginal man standing next to Cook, overlaying an abstract geometric shape which recalls constructivist art and the Aboriginal flag. This is a Tate Images licensable image titled 'Possession Island (Abstraction)' by Tate Images. What does this interpretation add to your understanding of the artwork? 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. An orphan from a very young age, she was raised on Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission in Queensland, and later trained as a domestic at Singleton. It is open to self revelation, self redemption and a myriad of rich images of self that can be built upon. 2. These visual representations of history present the colonisers as powerful figures and as the bearers of learning and civilisation in a land of primitive people who have no obvious learning or culture. These images are fused and overlapped in a dynamic composition underpinned by Mondrian-style grids. Choose a selfportrait by Gordon Bennett that interests you. His status as an artist has been elevated to hero with his contribution to Action Painting. Gordon Bennett 1. Collection: Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums The Estate of Gordon Bennett List some of your own qualities and attributes. This canvas is loosely divided into three parts. Discuss with reference to selected artworks by Gordon Bennett. 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. It is interesting to note that this same year was declared a period of mourning by Aboriginal people. Do you agree? The juxtaposition and sequencing of words and images in Untitled is unsettling. 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? It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name. I found people were always confusing me as a person with the content of my work. 2 February 2021. While self- portraits usually address issues of personal identity, Bennett uses this form of representation to also look at issues of identity on a national scale. The images include historical footage of Indigenous people and details of some of Bennetts own paintings. . Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. Bennett repositions the subject of the painting in other ways too, by including black footprints that diminish into the background of the composition. ww2dbase Henry Gordon Bennett was born in Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne, near the close of the nineteenth century. This imagery alludes to the violent suppression of Indigenous people and culture in the nations history that was thrown into focus by the Bicentenary celebrations. He has written of his approach to his work: Bennetts practice include painting, printmaking, drawing, video, performance, installation and sculpture, and challenges racial stereotypes and critically reflects on Australias history (official and unacknowledged) by addressing issues relating to the role of language and systems of thought in forging identity. The graphic detail in these images, including mutilated, tortured bodies, continue to confront viewers today with the realities of human behaviour and suffering in war. Symbols such as these highlight his awareness and use of visual images, forms and elements as signs. The Stripe series of abstract paintings represents a kind of freedom for me as an artist. In the past Quadroon, was a socially acceptable term used to label Indigenous people as a way of establishing genetic heredity. 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. Possession Island No 2 is representative of Bennetts wider practice, which explores issues of post-colonisation and Aboriginal identity. 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 When Gordon Bennett was labelled an Aboriginal Artist he was othered as an Aborigine and all the preconceptions that entails. Collection: Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums Read through the profiles and market analysis for the top 200 Indigenous artists 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. He lived and worked in Brisbane. Gordon Bennett 1. However, he offers more than one interpretation of the grids use, which is indicated by the sampling of works by Australian artist Margaret Preston . Citizens more recent work includes a series of interiors inspired by the decorator and home magazines that circulate widely in popular culture. He used familiar and recognisable images that are part of an Australian consciousness to explore and question the meaning of these images. Investigate the theories and ideas associated with anthropology, ethnography and phrenology. There was always some sense of social engagement. Pinterest. Gordon Bennett 1, Bennetts Aboriginal heritage came through his mother. Bennett was aware of the role binary opposites, such as self/other, play in constructing personal and cultural identity. It demonstrates Bennetts understanding of the power of this image. I did want to explore Aboriginality, however, and it is a subject of my work as much as colonialism and the narratives and language that frame it, and the language that has consistently framed me. Discuss with reference to examples in at least two works by Bennett. His father, born in Scotland in 1795, emigrated to the US to become a journalist and subsequently founded the 'New York Herald' in 1835. However, Bennetts ongoing investigation into questions of identity, perception and knowledge, has involved a range of subjects drawn from both history and contemporary culture, and both national and international contexts. While 2007 was a brilliant year for Bennett's secondary market results, with eight works sold of which . There are a number of reasons why I began painting abstract paintings that focused on overt visual phenomena, as opposed to explicit visual content. The Estate of Gordon Bennett. Gordon Bennett Possession Island (Abstraction), 1991 Kevin Gilbert Christmas Eve in the Land of the Dispossessed, 1968; 1992 KEY ARTIST ONE- VERNON AH KEE Born 1967, Innisfail, Queensland. He quotes directly from this image, which is in fact a copy of a copy, as Samuel Calvert copied this image of Captain Cook landing in Botany Bay from an image by Gilfillan, which is now lost. Bennett indicates the need to be reconciled within the context of culture and history to develop a full sense of identity. For example, placing the word DISPLACE under the image of Captain Cook coming ashore at Botany Bay focuses attention on the dispossession of Aboriginal people rather than on the discovery of Australia. What values or ideas characterise the postKeating era in Australia? These images, forever forged in our minds, are boldly depicted in Basquiats graffiti- like style. The work is a copy of a copy of a copy. 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. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007. The distorted and exaggerated features of the form incorporate qualities that appear animal and human, male and female. 2 All that he had understood about himself and taken for granted as an Australian had ruptured. Nov 26, 2012 - The paintings of Gordon Bennett are loaded with graphic detail. This artwork is constructed of obvious layers: The layers of dots, reminiscent of Aboriginal Western Desert dot painting, with lines of perspective a Western tradition. Such accolades and critical recognition are keenly sought by many artists. 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. It is uttered by all good Muslims before a good deed. The grid, with its characteristic ordered mathematical structure, appears in a range of Bennetts artworks in a variety of forms. Create an illustrated and annotated timeline of the history of Australia since settlement. Gordon Bennett was born on 9 October, 1955 in Monto, Australia. Van Goghs original bedroom evokes a feeling of peace and harmony. Conversation Bill Wright talks to Gordon Bennett, in Kelly Gellatly with contributions by Bill Wright, Justin Clemens and Jane Devery, Ian McLean, Who is John Citizen? Greenaway Art Gallery, 2006, Kelly Gellatly Citizen in the making, in Kelly Gellatly, p. 24. Western art has a long tradition of creating an illusion of three- dimensional space on a flat surface. She attempted to create works that reflected a sense of national identity by incorporating Aboriginal motifs and colours in her work. The mirror at the bottom left-hand corner of the painting represents Bennetts own shaving mirror. 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. Consider what dates/events should be included in your timeline and why. Gordon Bennett (1955- 2014) was born in Monto, Queensland. The grand Romantic landscapes of Western art were intended to inspire the viewer with their dramatic beauty and effects of illusion. Explore. 3233, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 33, Gordon Bennett & Chris McAuliffe, Interview with Gordon Bennett in Rex Bulter (Ed.) 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. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. Gordon Bennett 3. But, in the late 1990s, some residents . . This approach to his work resists any classification or confinement according to style. He tried a career as an actuarial clerk, attending Hawthorn College after Balwyn State School. But in Bennetts painting disparate diagrams, symbols and images disrupt the illusion, presenting the landscape as a site where many ideas and viewpoints compete. a moment of possession; the place where he came ashore and allegedly claimed . How does Bennetts use of appropriation reflect an interest in some of the moral and ethical issues associated with this practice. Gordon Bennett 1. 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 The inclusion of the grid as the foundation of the installation appears to confirm this. Much of Bennetts work has been concerned with an interrogation of Australias colonial past and postcolonial present, including issues associated with the dominant role that white, western culture has played in constructing the social and cultural landscape of the nation. Theyre buried, and this is a way of bringing them back into memory, but remembered in a different way from the way that I was taught, looking at them from a different angle and looking at how they work, where they came from initially, and how these images still support contemporary stereotypes, etc. Bennett was interested in the way language and images construct identity and history, and the way this language controls and creates meaning. Gordon Bennett arrived on Christmas Island in 1979 to take a post as leader of the Union of Christmas Island Workers. Bennett adopted several strategies to resist the narrow framework through which he as an artist and his work were viewed. It speaks of colonial violence and the consequences of being on the 'wrong' side of history, purchased in 2019, this powerful and sobering work is a major acquisition for the QAGOMA Collection. Gordon Bennett's "Outsider" is a highly emotive piece that conveys various ideas through appropriate symbolism. However behind the neat facade and pleasantries of suburban life, Bennett was haunted by racism and the same derogatory opinions of Aboriginal people that he quietly endured in the workforce. I was certainly aware of it by the time I was sixteen years old after having been in the workforce for twelve months. How have these sciences influenced the perception and understanding of Indigenous people and cultures? 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. The indefatigable artist has been the subject of exhibitions at the worlds most prestigious institutions, from the Museum of Modern Art and Centre Pompidou to the Stedelijk Museum and Tate Modern. Bennett layered these two distinctly different artists with his own work work previously appropriated from yet another context. Gordon Bennett POSSESSION ISLAND 1991 Titled, dated (1992) and signed by the artist on each panel and bears various exhibition related inscriptions and labels on the stretchers, and inscribed with date of completion 29.12.91 on the reverse of the right panel Synthetic polymer paint on canvas (diptych) 162 by 130 cm each panel, 162 by 260 cm overall Image: Gordon Bennett, Australia 1955-2014, Possession Island, 1991. The viewer is made to step back and allow the eyes to form the images. Bennett lodges this image in layers of dots and slashes of red and yellow paint that refer to other artists and images. Bennett's work is held in over 100 public and private collections, including many major state institutions such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. This painting combines the story of Bennetts mother, and other young Aboriginal women in the care of the government or church, with the Christian story. 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. It alludes to ownership and territory. Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Possession Island 1991 oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas (a-b) 162.0 x 260.0 cm (overall) Museum of Sydney on the site of first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. Bennetts art engages with historical and contemporary questions of cultural and personal identity, with a specific focus on Australias colonial past and its postcolonial present. Black angels replace traditional white cherubs. 4. One hand holds a torch a symbol of Enlightenment values that is also seen in The Statue of Liberty in New York that sheds light on darkness. Bennetts grid formations seem to imprison the figures within the canvas. They are strategically and prominently placed at the centre top of each panel, each radiating an aura of light created by white dots. 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. The facial features reflected in the mirror are blurred and distorted by roughly painted words typical racist remarks about Aboriginal people. As a shy and inarticulate teenager my response to these derogatory opinions was silence, self-loathing and denial of my heritage. These racist terms confront an Aboriginal figure represented as a jack-in-the-box, as he is violently jerked from the box that contains him. Gordon Bennett 1. 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. A gush of blood red paint shoots into the sky from his body. McCahon uses I AM to question notions of faith. Gordon Bennett Possession Island - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf) or read online for free. Kelly Gellatly 3. James Gordon Bennett Gewerblich. Possession Island 1991 Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas Two parts: 162 x 260cm (overall) The Estate of Gordon Bennett Purchased with funds. He holds a large whip with which he regularly lashes out at a black, coffin- like box. Gordon Bennett 3. He depicts how pain transcends place and event to encompass a global consciousness. ). The I am from Self portrait (But I always wanted to be one of the good guys) is replaced with We all are. Buildings and planes collide. The headless figure of the Aboriginal man has an animated, spectre- like presence that haunts the scene. What evidence can you find of Bennett conceptually examining the ideas behind the emotion, and extrapolating from there? 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. while Bennett may have attempted, in recent years, to disconnect from the politics of his earlier practice, there is also a sense within these paintings, of the impossibility of such a task. Scan these into the computer using a photographic software package like Photoshop. It is reproduced in flat, bold and black line work. That was to be the extent of my formal education on Aborigines and Aboriginal culture until Art College. Include in your discussion reference to Bennetts appropriation of The nine shots 1985 by Imants Tillers. Our experiences in this society manifest themselves in neuroses, demoralization, anger, and in art. The impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people and culture from this point was devastating. In Bennetts painting the bedroom becomes the site of violent conflict that involves complex and intersecting personal and cultural histories. Lists of words draw the viewer into a game of word association. This activity could be done as a group activity with different students researching different dates/events and presenting talks to the class about their significance. 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. This is evident in many of his works, including Outsider. The figure is dressed in tattered western clothing. 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. Bennett establishes him as the focal point. The background colours and features of the landscape in each panel of Requiem, Of grandeur, Empire suggest a vast Australian desert . John Citizen was an abstraction of the Australian Mr Average, the Australian everyman. Blood is a potent symbol and has historically been a measure of Aboriginality. Brainstorm ideas and meanings associated with these binary opposites and create a mindmap to show how they have influenced your perception and understanding of the world. How do the key themes/ideas and strategies in the book/film compare to those used by Gordon Bennett in early work such as. Narratives of exploration, colonisation and settlement failed to recognise the sovereign rights (or sovereignty) of Australias Indigenous people. . 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. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. However, while apparently recognising and presenting these motifs/symbols as signifiers of meaning, Citizen does not appear to have the same interest as Bennett in interrogating the systems and values these motifs represent or the role they have played in shaping identity, history and understanding. 2014. What is your personal interpretation of the abstract paintings? . Further reading . 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. The focus on reason, scientific learning and progress that characterised the Enlightenment (suggested by the measuring marks on the torch) lead to many significant discoveries and new ways of understanding the world. In Interior (Abstract eye), 1991 a diagrammatic grid overlays an image depicting a group of Aboriginal people in the landscape, seemingly appropriated from a social studies text. She was one of the first Australian artists to recognise the spiritual significance of Aboriginal art and the land. The artist Gordon Bennett led a reclusive life. The central image is a reworking of an earlier painting completed at art college, The persistence of language, 1987, painted in the style of Basquiat. Every object is carefully and clearly painted, yet the images conceptually blur together as they intersect and interlace through the grid, across the canvas. Celebrations continued throughout the year and gave renewed focus to traditional images and stories of the nations settlement history. It is also a direct reference to biblical stories in the Hebrew Scriptures. 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 incorporation of Blue Poles calls to mind an era of great reform in Australian politics. This work reflects our contemporary obsession with creating the perfect home filled with the latest must have designer style and material items. In your discussion consider meanings and ideas associated with, Compare your interpretation and analysis with others related to this artwork (this could be an interpretation by someone else in your class, or in a commentary on the work in gallery, book, catalogue etc. Queensland-born Gordon Bennett was an artist who loved collapsing 'high' and 'low' art boundaries. Some supporters applauded his escape but his claim that he left to pass on his knowledge about how to fight the Japanese - given his lack of success . The Whitlam Government abolished the last remnants of the White Australia policy, established diplomatic relations with China and advocated Aboriginal land rights, to name just a few of these changes. As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. Within the Home dcor series Gordon Bennett escalates the sampling and quoting of other artists and works to develop a pastiche. 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. Place each photograph on a separate layer, overlap and morph or merge all the portraits into one image. However Bennetts illusionistic representation of the rugged terrain and billowing clouds reflect a style of painting traditionally associated with European Romantic art. Here he exposes the truth of colonial occupation it was a bloody conquest. Mondrian, a Dutch De Stijl artist and a Theosophist, used art to search empirical truths and their source. Jenna Gribbon, April studio, parting glance, 2021. Issues ly explored in an Australian context are now examined in an international context. Mixing of pure blood with European blood was feared by Europeans, authenticity was at risk and identity diluted. The first panel of Bennetts triptych, Requiem, depicts Trugannini (c. 1812 1876), a Palawa woman from Tasmania. The installation is filled with images of his family and Constructivist-style drawings made by the artist. He was born in New York, May 10th 1841 and died 4 days after his 77th Birthday in Beaulieu near Nizza/France. $927,000 Last Sold Price. The strategy of word association subverts the values and meaning traditionally associated with the image.
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