He is not disturbed by slashes of paint, but painted carefully and outlined by the precise grid behind him. 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. In just three generations, that heritage has been lost to me. The 'cancel culture' debate winds me up. List some of your own qualities and attributes. Collect a range of images (both art and media sources) that depict characters that are perceived or presented as typically Australian. 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. Bennetts interest in adopting a strategy of intervention and disturbance in the field of representation manifests in many different ways in his art. In September 2017, Bennett's 1991 Possession Island was unveiled at London's Tate Modern. The inclusion of Pollock helps build these cross- connections. James Gordon Bennett, Sr., a Scottish immigrant, founded the New York Herald in 1835, building the paper from the ground up. 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. In Possession Island No 2 this figure is concealed and transformed into an abstract totem or geometric monument coloured with the signature black, red and yellow of the Aboriginal flag. This includes a focus on the role and power of language, including visual representations, in shaping identity, culture and history. But the mathematical formulation of linear perspective in the fifteenth century had a powerful influence on the representation of space in Western art from this point. An understanding of self in the context of family is not enough. Gordon Bennett, Possession Island (1991)*. * *Collection: Museum of Sydney on the site of the first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. Today a monument exists on the site commemorating his arrival. This approach involved a flattening of the picture surface and often the use of disparate visual elements or styles borrowed or copied from different sources. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 182 x 182 cm. It was a way forward for me. Why? Perhaps a re-writing of history? How do the key themes/ideas and strategies in the book/film compare to those used by Gordon Bennett in early work such as. Gordon Bennett, born on 16 April 1887 at Balwyn, Melbourne, was Australia's most controversial Second World War commander. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Art Elements, Line, Colour and more. . 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. Ian McLean 2. Who was Paul Keating? I was certainly aware of it by the time I was sixteen years old after having been in the workforce for twelve months. However, in each image the grid effectively highlights the controlled order and structure of knowledge systems and learning in Western culture, and how these frame and influence perception and understanding of self, history and culture. Its like images become part of the Australian unconscious. The powerful image/word I AM, while central, is accompanied by statements of opposite, I am light I am dark. Select two artworks by Gordon Bennett that interest you and discuss how the artists personal background, postcolonialism and/or postmodernism provide a framework for the meanings, ideas and/or formal qualities you find in the artworks. 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. Some of Prestons appropriations however, demeaned and trivialised the way Aborigines were depicted and understood. Born in Monto, Queensland, Bennett was a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art . Research the representation of three dimensional space in selected artforms of several different cultures (ie. They act as deep welts created when tissue scars. Gordon Bennett, The Manifest Toe, in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House/ G + G Arts International, Sydney, 1996, pp.962.Kelly Gellatly et.al., Gordon Bennett: A Survey, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2007. Image: Gordon Bennett, Australia 1955-2014, Possession Island, 1991. are they representative of different cultural identities)? Bennett adopted this alter ego to liberate himself from the preconceptions that were often associated with his Aboriginal heritage and his identity and reputation as the artist Gordon Bennett. Discuss with reference to Possession Island. 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. The Constitution is being rethought with respect to Indigenous Australians, and treaty-making is on the agenda yet the Uluru Statement from the Heart was roundly ignored by the Federal Government. The emphasis on making art about art which was the focus of his non-representational abstract paintings, contrasts clearly with the focus on social critique that was integral to Bennetts earlier work, and was intended also to make people aware that I am an artist first and not a professional Aborigine.2 In this respect, Bennetts non representational abstract works, despite their overt emphasis on visual concerns, may be seen as reflecting his engagement with questions of identity, knowledge and perception. It was no accident that Bennett used this event to question the way history is written and interpreted. The Stripe series of abstract paintings represents a kind of freedom for me as an artist. [Bennett] seeks to expose the shadows of official history, to track its doubles and contradictions, not in order to repudiate the European vision but to map a postcolonial future Ian McLean 2. The Classical style and pose of the figure in the panel Empire, and the draped animal skins and weapons, reflect a stereotype of the noble savage that was widely influential in how people viewed Indigenous people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Notes to Basquiat: 911 series and the Camouflage series, which reflect on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the war in Iraq respectively, highlight Bennetts global perspective. Gordon Bennett's painting Possession Island (Abstraction) 1991 is based on an image of Captain Cook claiming the eastern coast of Australia in 1770. 'Bloodlines' The resource provides frameworks for exploring key issues and ideas in Bennetts art practice. In Outsider the energy and intensity associated with van Goghs expressive brushstrokes and brilliant colour contrasts are powerfully explosive . This approach to his work resists any classification or confinement according to style. If God cannot be contained, can humanity be contained by stereotypes and labels? He found this liberating. In Untitled, 1989 Bennett works with a selection of images associated with the familiar story of the discovery and settlement of Australia. Inspired, Pollock removed the canvas from the easel and worked with it flat on the floor, using movement and gesture to flick and drip paint onto the canvas. At the heart of all human life is a concept of self. So, painting in an overtly abstract manner was a way to go silent on the issues involved and yet still keep painting. 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. While some people may argue this has been a quick road to success, and that my work is authorised by my Aboriginality, I maintain that I dont have to be an Aborigine to do what I do, and that quick success is not an inherent attribute of an Aboriginal heritage, as history has shown, nor is it that unusual for college graduates who have something relevant to say. The artist Gordon Bennett led a reclusive life. 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. What is your personal interpretation of the abstract paintings? Immersed within a White European culture, he was unaware of his Aboriginality until his early teens. Bennetts art explores and reflects his personal experiences. 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. Born in 1955 in Monto, Queensland, Gordon Bennett lived and worked in Brisbane before his unexpected death in 2014. He drew on and sampled from many artists and traditions to create a new language and a new way of reading these images. Since 1992 Bennett was involved in an ongoing non-performance by refusing to participate in public lecture programs in Australia. On each corner of the grid are the letters A B C D . 22-24, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 32, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, pp. However Bennetts illusionistic representation of the rugged terrain and billowing clouds reflect a style of painting traditionally associated with European Romantic art. SOLD FEB 21, 2023. It is open to self revelation, self redemption and a myriad of rich images of self that can be built upon. He used weapons or gum tree branches as props, to construct an image that reflected European ideas of Aboriginal types. The men also paint their bodies in red, yellow, white and black, or in feather down stuck with human blood when they dress up, and make music with a didgeridoo. scale, format), Ian McLean Gordon Bennetts existentialism in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, Roseville East, 1996, p. 69, Ian McLean Gordon Bennetts existentialism, p. 71. 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. He serves as a counterpoint to Gordon Bennetts Other, and yet we are the one and the same. 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. 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. His identity must remain fluid. The strategy of word association subverts the values and meaning traditionally associated with the image. Place each photograph on a separate layer, overlap and morph or merge all the portraits into one image. In her lifetime, Trugannini witnessed the systematic and often violent destruction of her culture and people. Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. Reflecting the colours of the Aboriginal flag, splashes and drips of red, yellow and black paint across the surface of the painting quote the distinctive style of Jackson Pollock (19121956), which Bennett began to sample in 1990. Gordon Bennett 1. Victorious soldiers triumphantly and ceremoniously paraded under such arches, sometimes accompanied by their captives. However these ideas and values simultaneously oppressed Indigenous people and their cultural and knowledge systems. In Possession Island, 1991, Bennett meticulously photocopies and enlarges Calverts image so that it can be projected, cropped and copied onto the canvas. This is the second of two works entitled Possession Island that Bennett painted following Australias bicentennial celebrations in 1988. I needed to change direction at least for a while. 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. From 2003 Bennett worked on a series of non-representational abstract paintings that mark another significant shift in his practice. McCahon uses I AM to question notions of faith. Gordon Bennett 1. For example, Aboriginal deaths in custody was recognised as a significant issue. The mirror, a recurring symbol within his work, is not a two- dimensional illusion but a literal construct. 148339 AK Gordon-Bennett-Rennen 1904 Cup Motorsport Usingen Weilburg Limburg. He was in a sense all things to all people. What key themes and ideas are explored in the book/film? What legal, moral and ethical rights does an artist have to control the way their work is seen and viewed in exhibitions, books or online. Explore a range of ideas and media within your work. The word DISPERSE was used by the colonisers to represent the killing of Aboriginal people. Gouged into the skin like a tattoo, these markings will never heal or fade away. 3233, Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe, p. 33, Gordon Bennett & Chris McAuliffe, Interview with Gordon Bennett in Rex Bulter (Ed.) The grotesque also interested Bennett as a means of disrupting conventional ways of seeing and understanding. Indeed, he explains that before the age of sixteen he was not really aware of his Indigenous heritage. Lindt created many photographic portraits of Aboriginal subjects. EUR 99,99. dresden-de (52.329) 100%. A long-distance hot-air balloon race (The International Gordon Bennett balloon race), which still continues, was inaugurated by him in 1906. The incorporation of Blue Poles calls to mind an era of great reform in Australian politics. 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. Gordon Bennett 3, Bennett married in 1977. Theosophy means god wisdom, the belief that everything living or dead was put together from basic blocks that lead towards consciousness. Would you include work by Gordon Bennett in a text book on Australian history. possession island Art about art seems appropriate for the time being. 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 This purchase was indicative of a massive legislative reform program that had not been seen in Australian society for decades. 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. 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). Gordon Bennett This world is not my home 1988 Not Currently on Display Artwork Artist As a teenager, Gordon Bennett became aware of his Indigenous heritage, and art became the tool through which he could examine his identity as an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. 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. For example, at the time Gordon was born she still had to carry her official exemption certificate with her, and she lived in fear of her son being taken from her . Such imagery has often been used by artists to unsettle the viewer and present new perspectives on familiar subjects. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007 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. The left explodes with images of 9/11, the devastatingly unforgettable attacks in the United States, including New York.