Bennett confronts and questions the appropriateness of this borrowing. Based on your understanding of Bennetts motivations for the abstract paintings, outlined in the quote in the text, suggest what may have interested Bennett about the work of these artists. Mondrian, a Dutch De Stijl artist and a Theosophist, used art to search empirical truths and their source. Most Australians were shocked and scandalised that public money was spent on something they neither appreciated nor understood. 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. Identity is fixed and self is understood in the context of words such as Abo, Boong, Coon and Darkie . Narratives of exploration, colonisation and settlement failed to recognise the sovereign rights (or sovereignty) of Australias Indigenous people. While Bennetts art is grounded in his personal struggle for identity as an Australian of Aboriginal and AngloCeltic descent, it presents and examines a broad range of philosophical questions related to the construction of identity, perception and knowledge. 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 coming of the light, 1987 the high- rise buildings that frame the white faces are represented as grid-like forms. However, for Bennett, dot painting also became a powerful expression of the connections between nature and culture, which are integral to representation in Aboriginal art. He probed ideas about identity, fuelled partly by his own . 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. In Bennetts painting the bedroom becomes the site of violent conflict that involves complex and intersecting personal and cultural histories. 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. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. If God cannot be contained, can humanity be contained by stereotypes and labels? The figure is dressed in tattered western clothing. Bennett adopted several strategies to resist the narrow framework through which he as an artist and his work were viewed. Since 1992 Bennett was involved in an ongoing non-performance by refusing to participate in public lecture programs in Australia. John Citizen is an artist for our times: he reflects back to us citizens the white Australia of the postKeating era. At the time the A$ 1.3 million purchase price was the highest ever paid for a piece of modern art within Australia and the U.S. 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. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island #2, 1991. The grand Romantic landscapes of Western art were intended to inspire the viewer with their dramatic beauty and effects of illusion. Gordon Bennett 1. While 2007 was a brilliant year for Bennett's secondary market results, with eight works sold of which . Gordon Bennett was born on 9 October, 1955 in Monto, Australia. Explain how these images might have influenced perceptions of Australian identity? As a self- portrait, the artist seems to be present everywhere within the installation but is in fact nowhere. Particularly when academics claim that they are afraid of expressing their 'true' findings for fear of losing their careers. EUR 99,99. dresden-de (52.329) 100%. Bennett has continued to work in new ways with materials, techniques and images throughout his career, resisting any classification or confinement according to style. I AM is borrowed from a well known art work, Victory over death 2, 1970 by New Zealand artist Colin McCahon (19191987) . Include in your discussion reference to Bennetts appropriation of The nine shots 1985 by Imants Tillers. Bennetts art is not always easy to look at. The impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people and culture from this point was devastating. In this way, Bennett effectively exposes and questions the constructed and value-laden nature of language and history, and how they shape our understanding of the world. 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 Here he is concealed under blocks of black, red and yellow, the colours of the Aboriginal flag. Gordon Bennett is an Australian artist of Aboriginal descent. What is your personal interpretation of the meaning and ideas in The coming of the light or Untitled ? However Bennetts use of the black square in this and other works also reflect his ongoing interest in the work of the influential Russian abstract artist Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935). Discuss with reference to one or more works by Bennett. One of the most heroic and well-known images of Australias past is Captain Cook landing in Botany Bay in 1770. Gordon Bennett Possession Island (Abstraction) 1991 oil and acrylic on canvas 182 x 182cm Collection: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Tate, purchased jointly with funds provided by the Qantas Foundation, 2016 The Estate of Gordon Bennett 2014. 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. Discuss with reference to a selection of at least three works, clearly identifying stylistic shifts, and evidence of conceptual unity. Bennett used it to question notions of self. Comparisons between Basquiat and Bennett often focus on the artists similar backgrounds and experiences. Symbols such as these highlight his awareness and use of visual images, forms and elements as signs. However the hand in the opposite panel controls and threatens the Aboriginal figure represented as a jack- in- the- box. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, this was a time to mourn the devastating consequences of 200 years of colonisation. Gordon Bennett an Australian Aboriginal artist demonstrates this theory through his work. 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 . This was common practice among young Aboriginal girls and women. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 182 x 182 cm. 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. Jenna Gribbon, Silver Tongue, 2019, Price ranges of small prints by Pablo Picasso. A long-distance hot-air balloon race (The International Gordon Bennett balloon race), which still continues, was inaugurated by him in 1906. Sutton Gallery. List some of your own qualities and attributes. As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. Further reading His father, born in Scotland in 1795, emigrated to the US to become a journalist and subsequently founded the 'New York Herald' in 1835. 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. John Citizen was an abstraction of the Australian Mr Average, the Australian everyman. Bennett was concerned that his identity and work was seen as coming from a narrow framework. Gordon Bennett 1. 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. The coming of the light also explores ideas, issues and questions related to the Enlightenment values central to colonialism. Bennett attempts to destroy the stereotypes to question notions of identity. After years of critiquing art-historical standards, Bennett has himself become the standard bearer. Bennetts art practice was interdisciplinary and encompasses painting, photography, printmaking, video, performance and installation. Bloody handprints are stamped across the walls. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas Two parts: 162 x 260cm (overall . He was born in New York, May 10th 1841 and died 4 days after his 77th Birthday in Beaulieu near Nizza/France. The only clearly defined part of Possession Island is the black skinned male figure in the centre. ww2dbase Henry Gordon Bennett was born in Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne, near the close of the nineteenth century. From a distance the figure resembles a sculpture of a heroic Classical figure. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island (1991)*. The 'cancel culture' debate winds me up. On Tuesday, the Tate unveiled Gordon Bennett's Possession Island, a provocative 1991 work that takes a 19th century etching of Cook's claiming Australia for Britain, and plants a proud abstract indigenous flag on it. January 26, 1988: Spectator craft surround tall ship The Bounty on Sydney Harbour as it heads towards Farm Cove while a formation of air force jets are in a fly-past overhead, part of the First Fleet re-enactment for Australias Bicentennial, A strategy of intervention and disturbance, Layering and re-defining Creating new language, Re-mixing and exchanging A global perspective, Outsider and Altered body print (Shadow figure howling at the moon), Installation of Triptych: Requiem, Of grandeur, Empire, 1989, in exhibition Gordon Bennett (2007), Visual images, forms and elements as signifiers, Art practice a multidisciplinary approach, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, International Audience Engagement Network (IAE), Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 20, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 15, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 21, These experiences are clearly reflected in the Home sweet home series 1993-4, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 27, Kelly Gellatly, Conversation: Bill Wright talks to Gordon Bennett with contributions by Bill Wright, Justin Clemens and Jane Devery, Gordon Bennett (exh. 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. Discuss in relation to selected artworks by Bennett that you believe reveal questions and complexities, rather than answers and simplicities. Pollock becomes a catalyst for transformation. Gordon Bennett Australia 1955-2014. Discuss with reference to the same works. 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. Gordon Bennett 2. 'Bloodlines' 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? Among these was the harrowing struggle for identity that ensued from the repression and denial of his Aboriginal heritage. These questions include how traditional characterisations of light and darkness have influenced perceptions and experience of race and culture. A gush of blood red paint shoots into the sky from his body. Research the significant dates/events referenced in Bennetts artworks, including Myth of the Western Man (White mans burden) 1992 for some ideas. Gordon Bennett 1. Curated by Zara StanhopeThe intelligence and passion of Gordon Bennett's politically committed post-appropriation art struck a chord with the postcolonial ambitions of the 1990s. That is not my intention, I have my own experiences of being crowned in Australia, as an Urban Aboriginal artist underscored as that title is by racism and primitivism and I do not wear it well. Bennett used Blue Poles to recall this period of change. It was upon entering the workforce that I really learnt how low the general opinion of Aboriginal people was. Australian politics is fraught yet the Australian public is disengaged. Kelly Gellatly 5, By the mid 1990s, Gordon Bennett came to feel he was in an untenable position. Typical of Bennetts early work, the painting appropriates an existing picture, in this case an historical painting, and transforms the content with carefully considered signs of Aboriginal identity. Bennetts art explores and reflects his personal experiences. all the education and socialization upon which my identity and self worth as a person, indeed my sense of Australianness, and that of my peers, had as its foundation the narratives of colonialism. At the same time I have resisted being positioned as a spokesperson for my people since I do not have nor do I seek, such a mandate by declining to speak about my work. 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. How does this work compare with conventional self-portraits? The linear diagram that frames the kneeling figure of Bennetts mother in the central panel of Triptych: Requiem, Of grandeur, Empire, and the diagrams in the lower sections of the two side panels, are typical of illustrations that explain the principles of linear perspective. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA). Possession Island (Abstraction), Gordon Bennett, 1991, Oil paint and acrylic paint on canvas. He used weapons or gum tree branches as props, to construct an image that reflected European ideas of Aboriginal types. Gordon Bennett 3. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the NGV is built. Collect and find photographs of a wide variety of people of different ethnicities, cultures and physical appearances. He drew on and sampled from many artists and traditions to create a new language and a new way of reading these images. 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. Indeed, he explains that before the age of sixteen he was not really aware of his Indigenous heritage. She was one of the first Australian artists to recognise the spiritual significance of Aboriginal art and the land. Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, pp. The effect is that they dissolve into a mass of colour, dots and slashes of paint . 148339 AK Gordon-Bennett-Rennen 1904 Cup Motorsport Usingen Weilburg Limburg. 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. Bennett investigates the way stereotypes are constructed by exploring words and images in opposites. In the third panel of Bennetts triptych, Empire, a Roman triumphal arch frames a stately figure. Compare and contrast this artists use of appropriation with that of Gordon Bennett. What key themes and ideas are explored in the book/film? As a shy and inarticulate teenager my response to these derogatory opinions was silence, self-loathing and denial of my heritage. This image is based on a photograph by JW Lindt (1845 1926). The Bicentenary celebrations triggered increased activism, protests and public debate related to Indigenous issues. She was once thought to be the last surviving Tasmanian Aborigine. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island (Abstraction), 1991. The dresser draw labelled self is closed while the drawers for history and culture are ajar. 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. How does this interpretation and analysis compare to your own? Opens in a new window or tab. She attempted to create works that reflected a sense of national identity by incorporating Aboriginal motifs and colours in her work. 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. The grid, with its characteristic ordered mathematical structure, appears in a range of Bennetts artworks in a variety of forms. Place each photograph on a separate layer, overlap and morph or merge all the portraits into one image. It is interesting to note that this same year was declared a period of mourning by Aboriginal people. In 1999 Bennett adopted an alter ego and began making and exhibiting Pop Art inspired images under the name of John Citizen, a persona representative of the Australian Mr Average. 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 Many Indigenous Australians saw this appropriation as further evidence of a justification of colonisation and a Eurocentric interpretation of Aboriginal culture. Bennett only used two colours, symbolically, red and black. How do these systems/conventions reflect values and ideas important to that culture? 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. 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. The Politics of Art. I decided that I would attempt to create a space by adopting a strategy of intervention and disturbance in the field of representation through my art. Gordon BENNETT "Possession Island" (1991) Conceptual Painting Art Painting Contemporary Australian Artists Neo Expressionism Expressionist Art Collage Cultural Studies Indigenous Education Gordon BENNETT "Notes to Basquiat (The coming of the light)" (2001) Aboriginal Painting Drawing Prints Drawings Image Sheet Foley Present Day 2. Thousands of dots fill the canvas.
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