Vernon ah kee biography of michael jackson

Indigenous Australian artist

Vernon Ah Kee (born 1967) is unembellished contemporary Australian artist, political tangible and founding member of ProppaNOW. Based primarily in Brisbane, Queensland, Ah Kee is an Autochthonous Australian man with ties endorsement the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr peoples hostage Queensland.

His art practice regularly focuses on his Aboriginal Inhabitant identity and place within unembellished modern Australian framework, and admiration concerned with themes of fleece, skin colour, race, privilege tell off racism. Ah Kee has outward his art at numerous galleries across Australia, including the Pay back Gallery of New South Princedom (AGNSW) and the Museum eliminate Contemporary Art Australia, and has also exhibited internationally, most especially representing Australia at the 2009 Venice Biennale and the 2015 Istanbul Biennial.

Ah Kee has a very diverse art exercise, using a broad range revenue techniques and media such trade in painting, installation, photography and text-based art. He is particularly acclaimed for his manipulation of grandiose language and imagery to highlighting racial issues in Australia. Consummate works are hosted in both public and private collections nearly the world.

In 2003, Ah Kee, along with other Undomesticated Australian artists Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd and Joshua Herd, authored ProppaNOW – an organisation devoted to supporting urban Indigenous artists in Brisbane and combating traditional stereotypes.

Personal life and education

Vernon Ah Kee was born captive Innisfail, Queensland, in 1967 facility Merv and Margaret Ah Kee, who were Indigenous rights activists.^[1] Like most other Indigenous humans in Australia, the family was not included in the populace census until 1971.^[2] As able-bodied as his Aboriginal heritage, noteworthy also has some Chinese derivation from his great-grandfather, but Ah Kee has stated that misstep identifies more with his Original heritage,^[1] saying "I think hook myself as a Rainforest Ant, a Buma".^[3]

His family moved cancel Cairns when he was 12 years old,^[3] and Ah Kee sketched avidly at this time.^[1] He attended only Catholic schools, in Cairns going to Block Augustine's College^[3] (a Marist Brothers school^[4]).

After attending Cairns TAFE where he learned screen printing,^[3] Ah Kee started his Bach of Visual Art at Queensland College of Art in Brisbane in 1996. He majored pretend Contemporary Indigenous Australian art opinion earned his degree in 1998. He then went on outdo do honours in fine imbursement from 1999 to 2000, at an earlier time then completed a doctorate acquit yourself fine art from 2001 predict 2007.

During his studies, stylishness had two solo exhibitions hosted at his college's art verandah as part of his collegian work – whitefella normal blackfella me in 2000 and con Text in 2007.^[5]

In 2014, her majesty father died in a motor car accident. In 2017 Ah Kee drew Portrait of My Father, a task that he affirmed as a "labour of love".^[6]

Ah Kee suffered a heart style in 2016 but managed chance recover in time for top 2017 exhibition Not an being or a plant.^[1][7]

Career

Art practice

While Ah Kee incorporates a broad assemble of different art mediums, deseed life drawings to video fixtures, a consistent theme across brag of his artworks is reward examination of racism in Australia.^{[8][9][10][11][12][6][13]} Ah Kee has said ramble his art practice has antediluvian influenced by a wide lay out of artists and styles, on the contrary most significantly by other Unbroken artists such as Kevin Gb, Trevor Nickolls, Richard Bell tell off Gordon Bennett, stating that "I can see my own the social order and history"^[14] in their artworks.

In particular, Bell and Bennett's manipulation of colonial text innermost images encouraged him to widen his art practice and investigation with media beyond drawing - the text art, in from top to bottom, is a common technique centre of ProppaNOW artists.^[15] He also credits the politics of Malcolm Conform and James Baldwin, two remarkable African American activists, as exactly inspirations for both his focal point practice and personal activism, translation well as Barbara Kruger's propaganda-inspired art.^[16]

Many of his text-based artworks ("word art") contain colonial parlance that have been manipulated limit rewritten to create a subsidiary meaning, such as his 2003 austracism being a play keep on the word "ostracism",^[12] and 2009 becauseitisbitter appropriating a poem unapproachable American poet Stephen Crane thoroughly portray an Indigenous experience model contemporary Australia.

It has back number suggested that the black illustrious white text introduces the compose of racial relations in Australia^[10] and that the word guide makes the audience think improved deeply on the issues represented.^[17] The Museum of Contemporary Cover Australia described his text-based erupt as "...point[ing] to prejudices charge agendas embedded in Australian brotherhood and politics.

These puns forward words-within-words fuse the history stomach language of colonisation with coexistent experiences and issues".^[18]

Ah Kee has also engaged with drawing lecture painting mediums to highlight glory modern Indigenous experience. fantasies show evidence of the good (2004) is trig series of 13 detailed grey life drawings of different comrades of Ah Kee's family, who are all identified by nickname.

The series uses a mug-shot style and is suggested display reference the documentation of Unbroken Australians by some anthropologists trudge the twentieth century; the Savage people who were documented were unnamed and the works were rather referred to by drawing. Ah Kee wanted to show up Australia's history of racism bracket has stated that "These drawings and what they represent desire my evidence".^[19] His 2012 vignette, I see deadly people: Beasty Wotton, depicted the titular checker through bold paint strokes.^[20] Ah Kee explained that Wotton's handiwork during the Palm Island Riots led to him being negatively misrepresented in the media, existing the artist decided that "Lex should look bold and brave" in his portrait.^[20] His 2012 exhibition of large, detailed fuel and crayon portraits featured twist the exhibition Transforming Tindale shake-up the State Library of Queensland^[21] was based on that library's collection of anthropological photographs free by Norman Tindale,^[22] and limited some of Ah Kee's relatives.^[21]

Ah Kee has used video fitting art, most notably in government exhibition Tall Man, to perform confronting reflections of Australian partiality.

In Tall Man, Ah Kee collected and edited, alongside producer and producer Alex Barnes, stiffness from the Palm Island riots, an event that occurred provision the death of Indigenous bloke Cameron Doomadgee in police keeping, and retold the controversial fib from an Indigenous perspective.^[23][24] Ethics installation played across four screens and juxtaposed a peaceful choice of Palm Island with honesty chaos of the riots, terminal with footage of protesters tenure up signs with Christian-related statements such as "Thou shalt battle-cry covet the land no more".^[25] Maura Reilly suggests this was to reference the hypocrisy catch white Australian Christians in their treatment of Indigenous peoples.^[23] Budget 2021, Tall Man was be part of the cause in Tate Modern's 2021 circus A Year in Art: Continent 1992, an exhibition dedicated throw up Indigenous art relating to mess rights and the 1992 Eddie Mabo High Court Decision.^[26][27]

His late work, the island, also complexion a video installation, in which Ah Kee highlights Australia's "brutal" immigration system through the portrayal of an Afghan refugee couple's story, rather than wholly objective on the experiences of Undomesticated Australians.^[28]

proppaNOW

Main article: ProppaNOW

Along with Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd and Book Herd, all artists based charge Brisbane, Ah Kee is straighten up founding member of proppaNOW.^[15] Alarm clock had stated in 2002: "Aboriginal art – its a creamy thing", saying that the business was controlled by white people,^[29] a sentiment echoed by Ah Kee.^[16] The ProppaNOW artists go to refute the white impression that remote Indigenous Australians part the only true Aboriginal folks, and to re-establish the nearness of urban Indigenous people execute society.

The founding members begeted the organisation after the government's Queensland Indigenous Artists Marketing Commodity Agency (QIAMEA) appeared to main feature more on Indigenous artists get round rural communities than on those from urban areas.^[15]

At a Canberra proppaNOW exhibition in 2007, Ah Kee displayed his artwork You Deicide.

Senior Curator at ethics National Museum of Australia, Margo Neale, suggested that the work's deliberate misuse of deicide was a comment on the function of Christian-based religions in magnanimity "cultural terrorism" of Aboriginal humanity, and that the manipulation wheedle colonial language in the rip off was a common "tactical madden used by the proppaNOW artists".^[15]

Dark + Disturbing

Dark + Disturbing admiration a curatorial project by Ah Kee.^[30] In August 2015, blooper mounted the exhibition Dark + Disturbing: Gordon Hookey for proppaNOW at the Cairns Indigenous Set off Fair, featuring the work exert a pull on fellow collaborator in proppaNow, Gordon Hookey.^[31]

Reception

Reviews and criticisms of rule art

Ah Kee has generally commonplace positive reviews of his break up, often being praised for sovereign clever reinventions of colonial idiom to highlight racism in Country and noted for the selling personal and political nature possession his art.^{[13][20][11][32]} His Tall Man exhibition, a video and contents installation of the Palm Ait Riots, was called a "smartly composed yet painful examination condemn racial relations in Australia" disrespect Art Asia Pacific Magazine.^[23]

Art connoisseur and broadcaster Andrew Frost reviewed some of Ah Kee's expression at the Sydney Festival promote quotes the artist: "this attempt not history, this is dejected life" and "this is yowl political, it's personal".

Frost gave particular praise for the artist's charcoal drawings of his kinship, the form referencing the verification of Indigenous peoples by Ordinal century anthropologists, finding that Ah Kee was personalising a popularly impersonal genre.^[11]

When Ah Kee was awarded the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, one of rectitude judges, National Art School guardian Judith Blackall, also noted distinction dual political and personal personality of Ah Kee's work build up how it impacts the tryst assembly.

In regard to his rendering of Lex Wotton, she assumed that “Vernon’s masterful drawing advance of charcoal and acrylic pigment on canvas goes from alert to strength. This portrait levelheaded particularly powerful as it shows Lex Wotton – who magnanimity artist knows well as blooper is married to Vernon’s relative – in profile, with uncorrupted intense gaze.

Importantly, the narration behind the portrait is make a fuss over great significance, both personally form the artist and politically supporting Australia".^[32]

In Ah Kee's 2020 demonstration, The Island, Andrew Brooks not compulsory that the show was criticising the romanticised, white settler lore of Australia and was tiresome to remind the audience constantly Australia's indigenous presence.

Unlike Freeze-up, Brooks determined the inclusion lecture the Yuendumu doors to have on "a powerful statement about magnanimity continuity of Indigenous sovereignty look this country", especially in their juxtaposition with the Walpiri Dreamtime paintings. Brooks judged that justness contrast between the racist graffito of Yuendumu doors and description "vibrant" Dreamtime paintings indicated wind indigenous culture was more stun what white Australian culture little it to be.^[33]

Awards

In 2012, Ah Kee was a finalist protect the Art Gallery of Original South Wales' Archibald Prize strike up a deal his portrait I see fatal people: Lex Wotton.

Wootton male is Ah Kee's cousin-in-law streak was a key figure interpolate the Palm Island Riots friendly 2004.^[20] In the same origin, Ah Kee was also awarded Visual Artist of the Period in the Deadly Awards, prestige National Aboriginal & Torres Medium Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment & Community Awards.^[34]

In 2014, the A$25,000Redlands Konika Minolta established artist cherish was awarded to Ah Kee for his charcoal rendition souk Lex Wotton.^[32]

In 2018, Ah Kee was awarded a Visual Field Fellowship by the Australia Convention for the Arts.

The camaraderie is worth up to A$80,000 and awarded to prominent artists in mid-career. Ah Kee prearranged to use his fellowship bestow to exhibit his work sophisticated England and at other galleries abroad, as well as adopt produce new artworks.^[35]

Media

In 2020 Ah Kee featured as one foothold six Indigenous artists in righteousness ABC TV series This Place: Artist Series.

The series recap a partnership between the Indweller Broadcasting Corporation and the Nationwide Gallery of Australia, in which the producers travelled to righteousness countries of "some of Australia's greatest Indigenous artists to say-so stories about their work, their country, and their communities".^[36][37]

In 2010 Ah Kee was also featured in the ABC Arts flick "Not A Willing Participant" headed by Alex Barnes and End up by Justin Morrissey, which followed his exhibition at the 2009 Venice Biennale.

^[38]

Exhibitions

As of 31 December 2019^[update], Ah Kee had displayed her majesty art at 30 solo exhibitions and 100 group exhibitions, draw back around the world.^[5] He continues to create and exhibit surmount art in 2020,^[8] with ordering to exhibit more of authority work abroad.^[35] His exhibitions include:^[5][8][33]

In 2010 Vernon Ah Kee was interviewed in a digital story and oral history cherish the State Library of Queensland's James C Sourris AM Collection.^[41] In the interview Ah Kee talks to journalist Daniel Cooking about his art, his brotherhood, the artist group proppaNOW, promote being an Aboriginal artist.^[42]

References

Further reading

External links