Unit 1 – ART AS LENS Investigation
INQUIRY QUESTION How do artists use and manipulate representations of people, places or objects in artworks to express their personal viewpoints?
Figure 3 Figure 2 Figure 1 Vernon Ah Kee George Sibley (Grandad George) from fantasies of the good, 2004
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. Lives and works in Brisbane, Queensland. Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr people. Focus- to expose his audience to degrees of underlying racism in Australian society. The gaze of the people he draws depicts the hardships the people had to endure when having to live under the harsh conditions of the settler colonialism. The gaze of the people in the portraits frontally facing depicts stories of men trying to survive rather than live. Ah Kee’s works depict largescale drawings of his ancestors.
VERNON AH KEE GEORGE SIBLEY (GRANDAD GEORGE) FROM FANTASIES OF THE GOOD, 2004 102 X 67.5CM The original photographs were taken on the Palm Island Mission in 1938 by Norman Tindale. His photographs emphasise the underlying racism from the time as the people were not recorded by name, however identified by numbers, and their mugshot-style format. Ah Kee uses the historic, scientific, and public photographs as a reference to reproduce a hand-drawn product to highlight the emotional intensity of the subjects’ gaze while maintaining the realistic appearance much like the original photo. The portraits Ah Kee completed of his family members are a visual record of the endurance of Aboriginal culture.
KEY ARTIST TWO- GORDON BENNETT
Born in 1955 in Monto, Queensland, Gordon Bennett lived and worked in Brisbane before his death in 2014. Focus- Bennett’s art challenged racial stereotypes and provoked critical reflection on Australia’s identity and history. Bennett commonly utilizes synthetic polymer paint on linen, soft ground etching and watercolours to construct his works.
GORDON BENNETT POSSESSION ISLAND (ABSTRACTION), 1991 182 X 182CM The appropriated image depicted by Bennett displays a calm and orderly scene of ‘taking possession’, however it masks a violent encounter between the European settlers and the Indigenous Australians. Bennett manipulated Prussian blue and pearl oils to render his work, Possession Island (Abstraction).
KEY ARTIST THREE- KEVIN GILBERT Born in 1933, Karale riverbank (Lachlan River), Condobolin, New South Wales. Gilbert lived and worked in Condobolin and Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, and later died in 1993. Wiradjuri people. Gilbert developed his lino cutting techniques and worked on various artworks during the time he spent in prison. As well as visual art, Gilbert also explored poetry and writing during this time.
Gilbert expressed his belief that life for Indigenous Australians was too cruel and unjust for abstract interpretation. ‘Christmas Eve in the Land of Dispossessed’ has a bold underlying statement depicting the disparity and dislocation between the Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
KEVIN GILBERT CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE LAND OF THE DISPOSSESSED, 1968; 1992 55.8 X 75.6CM
“It was the Aboriginal family sitting out under a tree, the river underneath and the hills, and in the night time, of course, the Southern Cross in the sky. But, within that, there is stillness and isolation so, to me, I can feel the isolation within that.” - Kevin Gilbert
MY EXPERIMENTATION IN RESPONSE TO VERNON AH KEE’S PRACTICE
Charcoal on paper, A4 sized.
Pencil on paper, A4 sized.
MY EXPERIMENTATION IN RESPONSE TO GORDON BENNET’S S PRACTICE
Acrylic paints, including white pearl paint. Size A4.
MY EXPERIMENTATION IN RESPONSE TO KEVIN GILBERT’S PRACTICE
Depiction of Carnarvon Gorge, white pastel.
In conclusion artists manipulate representations of people and places by using the focus point in the artworks to link to their personal viewpoint.
I constructed paintings and drawings of people and places through my own personal lens.
I discovered the reasoning behind why artists produce their works. They use of a variety of sources and adapt the images to reflect their personal take on the issue.
From research I learnt that an artwork is not always just about what you think you see, there is often a hidden meaning behind the work and reasons why the artwork is presented the way it is.
REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
REFERENCES • Mca.com.au. 2015. Christmas Eve In The Land Of The Dispossessed | MCA Australia. [online] Available at: <https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/works/201520/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • Foley, G., 2020. Kevin Gilbert | MCA Australia. [online] Mca.com.au. Available at: <https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/kevin-gilbert/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • McDowell, T., 2020. Gordon Bennett | MCA Australia. [online] Mca.com.au. Available at: <https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/gordon-bennett/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • McDowell, T., 2020. Vernon Ah Kee | MCA Australia. [online] Mca.com.au. Available at: <https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/vernon-ah-kee/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • Miller, S., 2004. Christmas Eve In The Land Of The Dispossessed, (1968, Printed 1990) By Kevin Gilbert. [online] Artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Available at: <https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/310.1993/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • Mca.com.au. 2016. Possession Island (Abstraction) | MCA Australia. [online] Available at: <https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/works/2016.16/> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. • Senior Visual Art 2019 Unit 1 Investigation. 2019. [video] Queensland: QCAA. Available at: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/portal/media/snr_vis_art_19_unit1_asr_investigation.mp4 • Artgallery.nsw.gov.au. n.d. The Art That Made Me: Vernon Ah Kee. [online] Available at: <https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artsets/cdslae> [Accessed 15 March 2020].