Josh Muir This Place For Jamari & Jyla
4th May - 22nd May 2022 Open daily 11.00am - 6.00pm
& Gallery@Federation Square in The Atrium opposite NGV entrance
Proudly Supported by Fed Square & City of Melbourne Arts Grant
& gallery Australia
Free delivery and installation within Victoria
JOSH MUIR On the 5th of February 2022, the art world lost a shining light, Josh Muir a proud Yorta Yorta/ Gunditjmara man passed away suddenly at age 30. Josh held his culture strong and close to his heart; it gave him his voice and his identity. His artworks echoed his culture in a contemporary setting, and his practice reflected his journey. Using bright colours and bold lines, he often drew together historical events and stories presenting them alongside current narratives in a distinctive graphic style. “I look around I see empires built on aboriginal land, I cannot physically change or shift this, though I can make the most of my culture in a contemporary setting and my art projects reflect my journey.” – Josh Muir Before Josh passed away, he was working towards his exhibition and a series of projects at Fed Square. With the blessing of his family, &Gallery Australia and Fed Square are presenting these projects, with all artworks for sale for the benefit of his children Jamari & Jyla. Proudly supported by Fed Square and City of Melbourne arts grant. About Josh: Josh Muir held his debut exhibition Don’t Spit the Dummy in 2013 at the Koorie Heritage Trust and rapidly began to establish himself as an important emerging artist. In 2015 Josh Joined Mars Gallery and it was at his opening that White Night Artistic Director, Andrew Walsh and NGV Director, Tony Elwood had a brief discussion that would change Josh’s life. Josh was then commissioned as a major project artist by White Night Melbourne 2016, with his work Still Here being projected on the façade of the National Gallery of Victoria. Following this, Josh held several sell out exhibitions and was commissioned for major projects including his dream jobs in 2017, when Muir designed Richmond Football Club’s Guernsey for ‘Dreamtime at the G’ and produced Murrunghurk, a Melbourne Art Tram work as part of Melbourne Festival. Josh also exhibited at the Warrnambool Art Gallery with a solo exhibition and has recently been included as part of ‘Marking Time: Indigenous Art From the NGV.’ In December 2019 he presented a large-scale multi- media project for the inaugural Going Solo: First Nations 2019 exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery and the previous year Muir held a major solo exhibition at The Koorie Heritage Trust. In 2015 Muir was the recipient of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award – Youth award and in 2016, Muir completed the 12 month Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship and Residency at the Victorian College of the Arts. Muir’s work has been acquired by the Koorie Heritage Trust, The National Gallery of Australia, Bendigo Art Gallery, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the National Gallery of Victoria. Curator Notes: I first met Josh around 2012. I became his friend, his mentor, his curatorial advisor, and his manager. His Art Mum as he sometimes called me. It has been an honour to present this exhibition as a celebration of Josh’s art. My fondest memory is the first White Night meeting, yes we knew Andrew Walsh had a project idea for Josh and it somehow involved the NGV, but it wasn’t until the meeting that the scale of the opportunity was explained. As we left the meeting we stood in the elevator, both standing silent, when the doors opened on the ground floor, we burst into laughter, the joy of the opportunity just offered, was overwhelming. We rushed around to the front of the NGV, it was like the first time we had seen the building, and suddenly realising how big the façade was. We laughed with excitement, splashing each other with moat water like kids. Then still soaking wet, we went inside and sat in the café and for the next two hours Josh bounced ideas around, scribbled on napkins and spoke at length about his mum’s story. It was an honour to witness the birth of Still Here. This exhibition is a combination of the final projects created for the exhibition, recent projects and some not previously exhibited artworks. Josh’s artwork will also be viewable on the Fed Square big screen as well as a commissioned public art project following the history of the site now known as Fed Square. Love & thanks to Josh’s mum Justine, his partner Shanaya, Stephen Jennings from & Gallery, Marie & Frank at Print Metal and Andy Dinan from Mars Gallery for their help in pulling this exhibition together.
Julie Collins - Director/Curator - & Gallery Australia
Self Portraits Over his career Josh placed himself within his artwork to symbolise a very personal story. Not always as a figure, often Josh was depicted as symbols or animals.
1. Joy Digital print on aluminium 700 x 1000mm Edition of 7 $5,500
2. Wolf Digital print on aluminium 585 x 1000mm Edition of 7 $5,000
3. Ferry Digital print on aluminium 585 x 1000mm Edition of 7 $5,000
Ballarat Series In 2018, Josh was commissioned to create a major landscape work about Ballarat, his hometown. His brief was “What is my Ballarat?” “I wanted to represent my city and the original custodians of this land...representing my culture is everything for me, always acknowledging the people who have fought so hard for me to be here today, doing what I love.”
4. My Ballarat Digital Print on aluminium Comes in 8 panels 500 x 8000mm $35,000
4. My Ballarat - Detail
5. Bunjils Land Digital print on aluminium 585 x 1000mm Edition of 7 $5,000
The Story of WAA Once there were seven young women called the Karatgurk who lived on the Yarra river where Melbourne now stands. They lived on murnong (yams) which they dug out with their digging sticks, on the end of which they also carried live coals. They kept the fire to themselves. They cooked their own yams, but gave raw ones to Waa the white Crow. One day Waa found one of the cooked yams and tasted it. He found it delicious and decided to cook his yams from then on. The women refused to give him fire and so he decided to trick them out of it. He caught and hid a lot of snakes in an ant mound, then called to the girls that he had found a large ant mound and that the ant larvae tasted much better than yams. The women ran to the mound and began digging into it with their sticks. The snakes came hissing out and chased them away, screaming. But then the women turned and began to hit out at the snakes with their digging sticks. They hit so hard that some of the live coals were knocked off. Waa was waiting for this. He pounced on the live coals and hid them in a kangaroo skin bag he had prepared. When the women had killed all the snakes, they came back to look for the coals. They could not find them and decided that Waa had taken them. They chased him, but he flew out of reach and perched on the top of a very high tree. Bunjil saw what had happened and asked Waa for some of the coals, as he wanted to cook a possum. Waa offered to cook it for him and when he had done so, threw it down to Bunjil who saw that it was still smoking. He tried to blow it into flame, but failed. He ate the possum and while he did so, the Kulin people gathered around and shouted at Waa to give them fire. The noise scared him and at last he flung some coals at the crowd. Kurok-goru the fire-tailed finch picked up some of the coals and hid them behind his back and that is why these finches have red tails. Bunjil’s helpers, Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel and Thara the quail hawk, grabbed the rest of the coals. Then the coals made a bush fire which burnt Waa black. It also spread over his country and Bunjil had to gather all the Kulin to help put it out. He placed some rocks at the head of the Yarra river to stop the fire spreading that way, and they are there to this day. His two helpers were burnt and became two rocks at the foot of the Dandenong Range. The Karatgurk were swept up into the sky where they became the Pleiades, the stars representing their glowing firesticks. One day, Waa became caught in a storm. The rain lashed down and he felt cleansed by it. It was then that a voice was heard. It was Biame the All-Father. He took the old Crow up into the sky where he became the star Canopus (the second brightest star in the southern hemisphere). Text courtesy of Mars Gallery - endorsed by the Victorian Aboriginal Cultural Advisory Committee
6. WAA - The Karatgurk women Digital print on aluminium 1150 x 1150mm Unique Edition $9,500
7. WAA-the trickster Digital print on aluminium 1150 x 1150mm Unique Edition $9,500
8. WAA - Fire tailed finch Digital print on aluminium 1150 x 1150mm Unique Edition $9,500
9. WAA -The bushfire which burnt Crow black Digital print on aluminium 1150 x 1150mm Unique Edition $9,500
10. WAA - Bunjils two helpers Digital print on aluminium 1150 x 1150mm Unique Edition Price $9,500
Unity Much of Josh work was based around the notion of reconciliation. Seeing the way forward by acknowledging the past and moving towards a more positive future. This series, Unity, depicts this strongly, with the over arching theme of always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
11. Unity #1 Digital print on aluminium 740 x 500mm Edition of 7 $3,800
12. This is Australia Digital print on aluminium 535 x 500 mm Edition of 7 $3,300
13. Unity #2 Digital print on aluminium 535 x 700mm Edition of 7 $3,800
This Place The last series of work Josh created was specifically for the Fed Square Letters project and this exhibition. When approached about the Letters commission Josh decided to depict the history of this site now known as Fed Square, exploring 5 themes. F - Indigenous use, connection to the land and the Yarra River, pre white settlement. E - Early white settlement, farming areas blended with early construction through the gold rush. D - The ‘modern 1960/70s’ Melbourne, the railway lines, Gas & Fuel buildings, City Square. S - The construction of Fed Square, builders, cranes, changing face of Melbourne. Q - Fed square as it is today, its architecture, its public use, the peoples place and still Aboriginal land. Josh had began to expand this concept further for this exhibition, including selecting sections of each letter and creating smaller works that could be editioned, hoping that more friends, families and supporters could collect his work.
14. FED SQ. Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm each letter Edition of 7 $20,000 for the full set $3,800 for a single letter $2,600 for the turtle dot
F - Indigenous use, connection to the land and the Yarra River, pre white settlement.
14.1 F Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
E - Early white settlement, farming areas blended with early construction through the gold rush.
14.2 E Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
D - The ‘modern 1960/70s’ Melbourne, the railway lines, Gas & Fuel buildings and City Square.
14.3 D Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
S - The construction of Fed Square, builders, cranes, changing face of Melbourne.
14.4 S Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
Q - Fed square as it is today. Its architecture, its public use, the peoples place and still Aboriginal land.
14.5 Q Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
14. 6 Turtle Full Stop Digital print on aluminium 600 x 600mm Edition of 7 $3,800
Melbourne Although Ballarat born and bred, Josh drew much of his inspiration from our beloved Melbourne, both from its built and natural environment. Here we see the Melbourne Skyline against the Aboriginal Flag and a night filled sky above Flinders Street from previous years. And the more recent work that Josh developed to depict early Melbourne inspired by the Fed Square letters project. And then the very special ‘The Yarra Story’ which was the last work created by Josh, completed on the 4th February 2022.
15. My Melbourne Sky Digital print on aluminium 525x 1200mm Edition of 7 $6,000
16. FLINDERS STREET Digital print on aluminium 630 x 900mm Edition of 7 $5,000
17. Dootigala before Batmania #1 Digital print on aluminium 700 x 1200mm Edition of 7 $6,800
18. Dootigala before Batmania #2 Digital print on aluminium 700 x 1200mm Edition of 7 $6,800
19. Dootigala before Batmania #3 Digital print on aluminium 700 x 1200mm Edition of 7 $6,800
20. Turtle Digital print on aluminium 250 x 200 mm Edition of 7 $600
21. On Watch Digital print on aluminium 840 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,700
22. Changing Purpose Digital print on aluminium 840 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,700
23. Stopping all Stations Digital print on aluminium 840 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,700
24. The Camaro Digital print on aluminium 500 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,000
25. Legends Digital print on aluminium 250 x 500mm Edition of 7 $1,000
26. Nice View Digital print on aluminium 250 x 500mm Edition of 7 $1,000
27. Smoko Everyone Digital print on aluminium 500 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,000
28. Location, Location Digital print on aluminium 250 x 500mm Edition of 7 $1,000
29. Twilight Digital print on aluminium 500 x 250mm Edition of 7 $1,000
30. Skyline Digital print on aluminium 250 x 1000mm Edition of 7 $1,700
31. Melbourne Icon Digital print on aluminium 145 x 245mm Edition of 7 $600
32. The Yarra Story Digital print on aluminium 500 x 2000mm Edition of 7 $8,800
33. William Buckley - Maquette Mixed Media 940 x 500 x 250 mm $7,500
As Josh said.....”NFT’s are the brave new world Juls” And although he was still getting his head around it, Josh was excited about developing this small body of work as an NFT project.
So what is an NFT? Basically, it’s a digital piece of art and the non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger that provides a public certificate of authenticity or proof of ownership of the unique artwork. How to collect Still confused? Don’t worry you’re not alone, but we are making it easy for you. If you are interested in collecting one of Josh’s NFTs, you can pay now at the desk or email gallery@djproject.net and we will invoice you for a payment in Australian dollars, if you do deal in crypto currency will send you a QR code for payment. Once you have paid, we can walk you through receiving your NFT. To have to hold And then, because we all still love something to hold in our hands, every collector will receive a small scale digital print on aluminium of your NFT, a USB with high res image, information about Josh & a paper wallet in a special box. Each NFT and printed copy is an edition of 5. & Gallery’s mission is to make collecting NFTs as easy as possible for everyone.
34. Canvas NFT Comes with box set, including a digital print on aluminum 148 x 148mm Edition of 5 $1,500
35. Supa Slam Boy NFT Comes with box set, including a digital print on aluminum 148 x 210mm Edition of 5 $1,500
36. Ferry Collage NFT Comes with box set, including a digital print on aluminum 145 x 245mm Edition of 5 $1,500
37. Pride NFT Comes with box set, including a digital print on aluminum 148 x 148mm Edition of 5 $1,500
Josh Muir CV SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2020 The Black and White Series, MARS Gallery, Melbourne Climax Theatre, Warrnambool Art Gallery 2019 Josh Muir: What’s On Your Mind, Bendigo Art Gallery 2018 Josh X Muir, Koorie Heritage Trust 2017 Josh Muir, The Gallery at City Library, Melbourne Josh Muir, The Lyric Emerging Artist Gallery, Fitzroy NAIDOC Week, MARS Gallery 2016 Murrunghurk / Still Here, MARS Gallery, Melbourne Still Here, White Night - Projected on the façade of National Gallery of Victoria 2015 Phoenix, MARS Gallery, Melbourne Ballarat Portraits, ContainART, Ballarat Extension of Archibald Prize GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2019 Marking Time: Indigenous Art From the NGV, National Gallery of Victoria 2018 Not Good Place, Next Wave Festival Melbourne Great Australian Landscape - Ballarat, Biennale of Australian Art (BOAA) Melbourne Forever, Australian Print Triennial 2017 Revealed, Incinerator Art Gallery Melbourne 2016 Gekko City of Gold, Ballarat Lorne Sculpture Biennale, Lorne 2015 National Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Awards, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin Koorie Heritage Trust 30th Anniversary exhibition, Koorie Heritage Trust Gallery, Melbourne Koorie Showcase, Koorie Heritage Trust Gallery, Melbourne 2014 From Where I Stand, Bunjilaka, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Beyond the Surface, Incinerator Art Gallery, Melbourne From Where I Stand, Bunjilaka, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Beyond the Surface, Incinerator Art Gallery, Melbourne
2013 Victorian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat Don’t Spit the Dummy, Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne AWARDS 2018 Winner, Lendlease Reconciliation Award, Koorie Art Show, Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne 2017 Australian Embassy, Mexico Artist in Residency 2015 Winner, Hutchinson Scholarship: 12-month artist residency, Victorian College of the Arts Winner, Telstra National Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Awards - Youth Award Winner, National Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Awards – People’s Choice Award 2014 Winner, Victorian Indigenous Art Awards – People’s choice Award Winner, Winner Arts Victoria Excellence Award – Koorie Art Show COMMISSIONS 2018 Australian Centre for Moving Image, Melbourne 2017 Foundation for Young Australians YirramBoi Festival Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Australian Embassy, Mexico City Melbourne Festival, Melbourne Art Trams AFL Richmond Football Club, Dreamtime at the G Guernsey The Cat Empire, Spinifex Gum Album Artwork 2016 Price Waterhouse Cooper Aboriginal Housing Victoria, Melbourne Threads Across the Pacific, Australia Mexico Indigenous Arts Residency, RMIT Melbourne Kids Matter, CAAMA Short Animation Film Artwork, Northern Territory Kalinya Communications, Melbourne White Night Melbourne - major commission to appear on the façade of National Gallery of Victoria 2014 ‘Eureka 160th Anniversary’, City of Ballarat MCG Mural, Richmond Football Club CAAMA short animation film & mural, Northern Territory Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Melbourne Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Melbourne COLLECTIONS National Gallery of Australia Museum and Gallery of Northern Territory National Gallery of Victoria St. John of God Hospital University of Ballarat Ballarat Base Hospital Private Collections