revealed. by Greg Tate which reads: "To be a race-identified race-refugee is to Inscriptions: "G. Bennett Nov. 1999 / Notes to Basquiat: Untitled"--On verso. Indeed, perhaps more directly and explicitly than any other Australian artist, he engaged in the debate on republicanism, sovereignty and citizenship in an effort to highlight the plight of indigenous people not just locally, but internationally, who have become estranged as a result of colonialism. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. 38.0 x 53.5 cm . His paintings are not expressionist. He felt alienated by his Australian education and the representation of Aboriginal people in Western culture and as a result, began confronting the idea of identity in his own work. Perhaps McLean reads Bennetts work in this way because anger at injustice is the emotional tone critical postmodernism typically adopts. On the opposite corner, however, a pair of heads labelled Caucasian and black/abo stare blankly into the void. We notify you each time your favorite artists feature in an exhibition, auction or the press, Access detailed sales records for over 657,106 artists, and more than two decades of past auction results, Buy unsold paintings, prints and more for the best price, Notes to Basquiat: Myth of The Western Man ,2001, Notes to Basquiat: Cut the Circle II ,2001, Home Decor (After Margaret Presont) ; Preston+DeStijl = Citizen (My Boomerang Won't Come Back) 1996 - Gordon Bennett, Home Decor (Counter Composition) Black Swan, 1999 - Gordon Bennett. Artists suggestions based on your preferences, Filter by media, style, movement, nationality and activity period, Overall performance of recent notable sales, Upcoming exhibitions at your preferred locations, Global snapshot, top performers and top lots, Charts on artist trends and performance over time, ready to export, Get your artworks appraised online in 72 hours or less by experienced IFAA accredited professionals. author unknown. I think it seeks to go beyond the words on the paper into a world of metaphor, allegory, images and ideas in order to say something that may not be said with just words.3, 1. Georges Petitjean, Kitty Zijlmans and Ian McLean, Outsider/insider: the art of Gordon Bennett, Ghent, 2012, 50 (colour illus.). Notes to Basquiat:(ab)Original 1998 Moreover, Bennetts work is aesthetically similar to American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. What I had not realised is that he is also in an intense dialogue with himself and his earlier work. Fred Hoffman (2005) writes that, as an African American, Basquiat utilized political and social commentary in his artworks to reveal the racial and class systems of injustice in America (Mayer 2010). The former emerges from a Klansman conical shroud, the gears of his brain communicating directly with those of his subordinate comrade, like the mechanisms of a ventriloquists doll. secure our sense of ourselves into eternity, identities are the names See opening hours Read more: We respectfully advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that this site may include images, or intellectual property, that may be of a sensitive nature. Again echoing Benjamin, Bennett draws a direct link between civilisation and barbarism, or here Enlightenment and suicide. Gordon Bennett Notes to Basquiat: Australia Day Re-enactment, 1999 Acrylic on linen 182.5 x 182.5cm + Gordon Bennett Home dcor (Preston + de Stijl = Citizen) Panorama, 1997 Acrylic on canvas 182.7 x 365.3cm National Gallery of Victoria + Gordon Bennett Possession Island . Get the best price for your artwork or collection. This critical orientation is particularly evident in Bennetts history paintings, displayed in the third room of the exhibition. 152: GORDON BENNETT. reality embodied in the idea "that we are all alike underneath" is also Notes to Basquiat - Big Shoes - 2002. Gordon Bennett. In the late 1990s Bennett responded to the personal experiences and practice of Puerto-Rican Haitian-American artist Jean-Michael Basquiat by producing a series of paintings that referenced the style and appropriated motifs of Basquiats own art. signed, dated and inscribed verso upper left: G.Bennett 9-6-2000 / Notes to Basquiat: Liberty / acrylic / 152 x 188cm. Est: AUD30 - AUD50. The work also relates to Basquiat's paintings, following the same principles as his graffiti, signifying the existence of a more basic truth hidden within a given event or thought"--Information from acquisitions documentation. (2014). In his artists statement, composed as a letter to Basquiat, Bennett says: back the skin and flesh to reveal the innards, ribs and skeleton, the document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gordon Bennett Notes to Basquiat (911) 2001 synthetic polymer paint on linen 182.5 x 304.0 cm, http://www.abc.net.au/arts/blog/arts-desk/Gordon-Bennett-artist-who-scaled-heights-of-artworld/default.htm, Psycho-social and psychological perspectives on religious violence (week4). Artlines | 1-2013 | Publisher: QAGOMA | Editor: Stephanie Kennard. Australian artist Gordon Bennett's exhibition, a powerful attack on systemic racism, is called Be Polite. Notes to Basquiat: one tense moment, Bellas Milani Gallery, Fortitude Valley, Jun1999Unknown, Biennale of Sydney 2000, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 26May200030Jul2000, Outsider/ insider: the art of Gordon Bennett, AAMU, Museum of contemporary Aboriginal art, Utrecht, 21Jun201209Dec2012, Mmoires vives: une histoire de l'art aborigine, Muse dAquitaine, Bordeaux, 16Oct201330Mar2014, Australian art and the Russian avant-garde, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 29Jul201729Oct2017, Carnivalesque, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 23Jun201828Oct2018, Jrme Bellay (Editor), Le Journal du Dimanche, 'L'art aborigne, la croise des mondes', pg. Written just three years after Bennett graduated from art school as a mature aged student, it gives a very clear sense of his early ambition and political purpose. Brnice Geoffroy Schneiter, Le Journal des Arts, 'Art premier: La cration aborigne repense', pg. and the histories of shared experience and levels we can relate to each As Jill Bennett elucidates, Bennett does not simply imitate or act as Basquiat [Rather] he is interested in how Basquiats work might be encountered from a different place, and what happens when different accounts of history and experience are registered simultaneously within a given frame2, Accordingly, in the present Notes to Basquiat: (Ab)original, 1999, the experience of race and life generally in the northern and southern hemispheres is both differentiated and conflated through Bennetts highly sophisticated mimicry of Basquiats spontaneous urban style. Gordon BennettAbstraction (Native) 2013acrylic on linen183 x 152.3cmCollection: Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2013 The Estate of Gordon Bennett. Pollocks action painting is presented as a form of cultural appropriation of First Nations sand painting in Notes to Basquiat: Bird (2001), and those same active lines form the veins of Bloodlines (1993). View Scale Rotate. Bennett emerges as one of the most important Australian artists of the latter part of the 20th century and one we have certainly not finished interpreting. Bennett, Gordon. In 1998, ten years after his death, Bennett wrote an open letter to Basquiat that explained his motivations: To some, writing a letter to a person posthumously may seem very tacky and an attempt to gain some kind of attention, even steal your crown. Professor of Art Theory and Fine Art, Griffith University. Impossible aims, such as this one, often underpin and drive the work of major artists; an achievable aim after all would be quickly satisfied. Given that consistently expressed view, thinking about how his work addresses the cause of anti-racism is an apt prism through which to view the current exhibition. His artwork resist and debate racial stereotyping and is critical of Australias colonial history and postcolonial present. Estimate: $35,000 - $45,000. Gordon Bennett was an Indigenous Australian artist whose work primarily conveyed indigenous identity struggles, particularly through the subject of colonization and racial injustice. Gordon Bennett was a painter of history and histories. A critically and politically engaged artist, Bennett presents alternative historical narratives of Australia and of contemporary world events, creating provocative works that place identity politics front and centre. At the entrance to this exhibition, there is an excerpt from the artists notebook from December 1991. Synthetic polymer paint on paper Art challenges and influences public opinion on conflict, yet more importantly it identifies injustices inherent to the cultural relationships and identities within a society. Notes to Basquiat: Unreasonable facsimile 1998 Copyright 20102023, The Conversation US, Inc. We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands. Possession Island 1991 Bennett makes art that questions accepted versions of history, often taking historical artworks as his starting point. (LogOut/ They reference the massacres of Aboriginal people in Myth of the Western man (White mans 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). Look more closely, however, you can see paintings by the 'real' Bennett displayed on the walls. your book, a reference to Stuart Hall which I have included in my own (1990). In Bennetts painting, the imagery of 9/11, for instance, illustrates metaphorically the ongoing religious/cultural conflict deeply embedded within Australian society that is comparable to an event like 9/11 where cultural/religious difference is perceived to instigate violence. 1992 exhibition at the Whitney. In the late 1990s, he embarked on two consecutive series of paintings, the Home Dcor series, and Notes to Basquiat. Ewen McDonald (Editor), Biennale of Sydney 2000, Sydney, 2000, 39 (colour illus. . Please also be aware that you may see certain words or descriptions in this catalogue which reflect the authors attitude or that of the period in which the item was created and may now be considered offensive. Thus, the oppressive ideologies and events surrounding colonization have been detrimental to the cultural identity of Aboriginal people and has consequently affected their social wellbeing today. 120 x 80cm 152.0 x 182.5 cm. View sold prices. For example, the small painting of a black angel in the installation in the first room of the exhibition titled Psycho(d)rama (1990) recurs in Notes to Basquiat (Jackson Pollock and his Other) (2001). By peeling He also wrote an open letter to the dead artist celebrating their cultural and artistic similarities, as well as their shared love of jazz, rap and hip-hop. within, the narratives of the past.". signed and dated twice, and inscribed with title verso: 16-10-1999 / G Bennett / G Bennett 1610-1999 / NOTES TO BASQUIAT: MODERNITY / , Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (stamped on stretcher bar verso)pARTners Art Collective, Melbourne, acquired from the above in July 2007, Gordon Bennett Notes to Basquiat: One Tense Moment (episode two), Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 5 November 4 December 1999, cat. Others are held in regional, state and national collections (National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales) as well as international collections including Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam.LUCIE REEVES-SMITH, Important Australian + International Fine Art, Gordon Bennett, managed by John Citizen Arts Pty Ltd. Bennett claims his identity was, shaped by the historical narratives of colonialism with all its romantic illusions and factual deletions (SMH 2014). Provenance. 16, Paris, 08 Dec 2013, 16 (colour illus.). Attending to form as much as content enables a different view of Bennetts oeuvre and critical purpose. Inscription. ^ Terry Smith, "Australia's Anxiety," History and Memory in the Art of Gordon Bennett, Birmingham: Ikon Gallery, 1999, p. 17. It is anything but. Get the best price for your artwork or collection. In Gordon Bennett's splendidly savage painting Notes to Basquiat: Perfect teeth 2000, his bright, biting satire sets white teeth against black skin in a retro pop-culture parody; the word 'mono' in the centre of the canvas suggests the dominance of one colour in art and life, as well as implying what we might think of monotones (wherever found) and the assertion of a 'monoculture'. (2014). Gordon Bennett (1955 -2014) was an Australian artist of Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. He also wrote an open letter to the dead artist celebrating their cultural and artistic similarities, as well as their shared love of jazz, rap and . 109 Bennett's mimicry of Basquiat's style is not an attempt to be like Basquiat or to get an authentic street beat into his life. Collection: The Estate of Gordon Bennett. "Notes to Basquiat: Untitled, 1999 appears to be referencing Basquiat's 'Samo', with the simple and strong text 'Sorry' recreated in a similar style with the familiar ironic copyright symbol. We will contact you if necessary. that make us the individuals we are and the histories of shared experience This task is the unfinished business referenced in the title of the show. cat., 2001, front cover View artist profile Add to wishlist. 120 x 80cm The University of Queensland, Brisbane Acquired with the Assistance of the Visual Arts and Crafts Board of the Australia Council, 1989, The Estate of Gordon Bennett Collection: The University of Queensland. Bennett's painting Notes to Basquiat (2001) presents . Underlying this dialogue with Basquiat Bennett's need to re-contextualise the issues that he has explored throughout his artistic career, confronting them within a global context. In 1999, the year this artwork was created, John Howard issued a 'statement of sincere regret' over the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, failing to make an official apology. NOTES TO BASQUIAT: LIBERTY, 2000. synthetic polymer paint on linen. Notes to Basquiat Untitled, 1999 [picture] / Gordon Bennett 1999, Bennett, Gordon. Gordon Bennett (19552014) worked for Telecom Australia before quitting his job at the age of thirty and enrolling in a fine arts degree at Queensland College of Art. Its vintage Bennett: taking no prisoners, refusing not to be furious, making viewers confront racism in all its sly expressions. past efforts to "explain" myself - it reads: "Cultural identities are Artists suggestions based on your preferences, Filter by media, style, movement, nationality and activity period, Overall performance of recent notable sales, Upcoming exhibitions at your preferred locations, Global snapshot, top performers and top lots, Charts on artist trends and performance over time, ready to export, Get your artworks appraised online in 72 hours or less by experienced IFAA accredited professionals. . His playful yet powerfully political artworks borrow images from other artists and mix and re-contextualise elements from Western and non-Western art history. Khaled Sabsabi, Look, 'The art that made me', pg. Gordon Bennett's artwork is on display at Tate Modern in Artist and Society: Citizens. The textured surface references the colonial footprint of global black slavery. They often use the dots associated with Aboriginal Western Desert painting intertwined with western systems of realist depiction. Bennett has reinterpreted their statement as a comment on the government's lack of apology to the Stolen Generations. That is not my intention, I have had 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. Digital master available National Library of Australia; Request this item to view in the Library's reading rooms using your library card. Inscriptions: "G. Bennett Nov. 1999 / Notes to Basquiat: Untitled"--On verso. Abstraction (Citizen) 2011 verso on canvas, pencil "G Bennett 31-8-1999/ ". Synthetic polymer paint on paper Conceived as an open letter to Basquiat who died ten years earlier, the series appropriates the raw street style for which Basquiat became renowned in an attempt to communicate via the language of the New York context the similarities and crossconnections of our shared experience as human beings in separate worlds that each seek[s] to exclude, objectify and dehumanise the black body and person.1 Yet if Bennett borrows signature motifs from Basquiats oeuvre such as his use of lists and rap-like banter, he nevertheless imbues them with his own uniquely Australian symbolism. Notes to Basquiat: Famous boomerang 1998 Copyright or permission restrictions may apply. Levels 7-12. To learn more about Copies Direct watch this. signed, dated and inscribed verso: G Bennett 3-9-1999 / NOTES TO BASQUIAT: (ab) original / [], Sherman Galleries, SydneyGene and Brian Sherman collection, Sydney, Gordon Bennett Notes to Basquiat: One Tense Moment (episode two), Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 5 November 4 December 1999, cat. Basquiat and Diaz used it as a tool for making social commentary with poetic statements throughout the urban environment. Notes to Basquiat: Double vision2000Gordon BENNETT. we may be separated by cultural context, time, space and death. NOTES TO BASQUIAT: MYTH OF THE WESTERN MAN, 2001. synthetic polymer paint on linen. Galtung, J. Bennett conversed about his conceptual painting practice as 'based on the semiotics of style and paint application, images and text, historical and contemporary juxta-position'. It weaves . The first African American artist to be internationally acclaimed, he was in many ways a model of the exotic success favoured in the rapacious celebrity stakes of the New York art world as much for his ethnic origins and youthful beauty as for his undoubted talent. McLean I., Probability, rap and coincidence: notes to Basquiat in Gordon Bennett: One Tense Moment (episode two), exhibition catalogue, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 1999 . The visually complex and layered works challenge received accounts of Australian colonial history. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007, Collection: Museum of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums, Gordon Bennett Australia 1955-2014. Unfinished Business can be seen until 21 March 2021. cultures, with wider historic references to the radical and the marginalised. The strange row of heads depicted in the very early work, The Coming of the Light (1987) forms part of the background of this same image. The Estate of Gordon Bennett, Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art. A critically and politically engaged artist, Bennett presents alternative historical narratives of Australia and of contemporary world events, creating provocative works that place identity politics front and centre. Collection: Paul Eliadis Collection of Contemporary Australian Art, Australia. Collection: Paul Eliadis Collection of Contemporary Australian Art, Australia Three parts: a: 182 x 182cm; b: 182 x 61cm; The art and legacy of Gordon Bennett (1955-2014), one of Australia's most influential contemporary artists, will be on show at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 7 November 2020 to 21 March 2021. This painting emanates from the 'Notes to Basquiat' series of paintings, where the artist takes appropriation to a new level within his practice. An Aboriginal man is inserted into the picture whose exploding head is turning into stars. Bennett directly referenced the work of many other artists throughout his career, including Jackson Pollock, Bennett makes art that questions accepted versions of history, often taking historical artworks as his starting point. Open from 12 noon Anzac Day Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees 2023, See Kelly Gellatly, Citizen in the making: The art of Gordon Bennett, in, Stanley Place, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101 Australia. 1955) Notes to Basquiat: Female Pelvis signed, dated and inscribed 'G Bennett April 1999 NOTES TO BASQUIAT FEMALE PELVIS' (on the reverse) acrylic on cotton duck 50.5 x 50.5 cm. and levels we can relate to each other as human beings in the world of Open daily GORDON BENNETT (b. Bennett, Gordon. . But is this the tone Bennett actually adopts? The main reference for Notes to Basquiat (The Coming of the Light) is not Basquiat's imagery, but one of Bennett's early paintings, The Coming of the Light (1987). This is the third major survey show to consider the breadth of Bennetts work and should not be missed. Aboriginal Australians -- Politics and government. By quoting from a range of cultures and artistic styles, he questions and undermines colonial history and racist stereotypes. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. come from somewhere, have histories, and like everything which is historical, He writes of Bennett: The anger is never far from the surface of his work, though he was perplexed by the common perception of it as angry.. Gordon Bennetts series Notes to Basquiat Explainer: what is postmodernism? Outsider 1988 and painterly fields of your work and particularly to the layered lines 152.3 182.7 cm. For example, expressionism features in the highly visceral Outsider (1988), which replays Van Goghs Starry Night. Gordon Bennett Notes to Basquiat: Modern Art, Sherman Galleries, exh. Bennett directly referenced the work of many other artists throughout his career, including Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Vincent Van Gogh. An artist who builds houses and swings and cares a lot about community, A discussion with Amandla Stenberg, Mars and Lorna Simpson about the youth-led movement #ArtHoe and how it relates to Simpsons work, Bennett was born in Monto, Queensland, in 1955 to an indigenous Australian mother and an Anglo Celtic migrant father. Special Collections Reading Room - Item/s may be unavailable, Brolgas at twilight, 1999 / Pamela Griffith, [Australian diaries and desk calendars 1999]. Synthetic polymer paint on paper Bennett is commenting on the devastating effects of colonialisation on Australias indigenous population. Estimate: $40,000 - 50,000. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Certainly, the notebook quote reflects how Bennetts reputation has been cemented in Australian art history. time, space and death. These works, like Basquiat's, use images of the Susan Best receives funding from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian Research Council . Gordon Bennett was an Indigenous Australian artist whose work primarily conveyed indigenous identity struggles, particularly through the subject of colonization and racial injustice. (LogOut/ In Notes to Basquiat (Death of irony) 2002, Bennett astonishingly knits a homage to Basquiat with Islamic patterns and calligraphy into a coherent composition . This citation of Basquiat's work acts for Bennett as a mode of communication with the American artist who died in 1988.
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