Melbourne, Australia— reexamine, The Reko Rennie retrospective is on display at the Ian Potter Centre, a branch of the National Gallery of Victoria that houses its Australian collections. The pun-intended title boldly challenges the binary distinction between “traditional” Aboriginal art and contemporary art through works drawn from the artist’s two-decade career.
Visually, reexamine Lean into the artist’s street art roots. In works such as Regalia (2013), Rainey uses the crown symbol not only to pay homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat, but also to address issues of Aboriginal sovereignty and legitimate rule in Australia. The artist’s first label, “OA” (short for “Original Aboriginal”), has also persisted, along with other hallmarks of graffiti culture, such as stencils and spray paint as subjects and materials. For example, in Message Stick (Totem Pole) (2011), Rainey stacked a series of spray paint cans to form his version of the message stick, a device carried by Australia’s Aboriginal people for long-distance communication. thing.
Rennie is best known for his reimagining of the Kamilaroi diamond pattern, which was often carved into trees as a male initiation symbol to maintain the continuity of Aboriginal culture to this day. This diamond pattern can be seen in many of Rennie’s installations, including “OA_RR” (2016-17), a bright, hand-painted 1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche that greets you from the NGV’s foyer. The accompanying video work “OA_RR” (2017) sees Rainey driving donuts through the countryside of Camila Roy as an homage embedded in contemporary car culture. Sand sculptures traditionally used for ceremonial purposes break down the distinction between past and present. the difference.
In a similar act of subverting linear time, reexamine The chronological narrative commonly seen in institutional solo exhibitions is abandoned, instead bringing the works into dialogue through shared themes and symbols. In addition to the aforementioned crown and diamond patterns, recurring visual motifs include camouflage prints, kangaroos, Aboriginal flags, warriors, bicycles and totems. Rennie continually refers to his back catalog in works such as Initiation_OA_RR (2021), the thematic and visual follow-up to the aforementioned film work, in which the artist drives a custom pink 1973 Holden Monaro through Melbourne’s western suburbs The street where he grew up. In the film’s climax, Rainey drags the car through a series of obvious burn marks, contrasting with the majestic operatic score. Importantly, his self-referential process does not feel indulgent because of the urgency of the issues he addresses, including police brutality, Aboriginal deaths in custody and land rights.
reexamine This is one of the few exhibitions I’ve seen at the NGV, where the gallery often employs heavy-handed exhibition design (I’m told they have an in-house wallpaper printer) to support the exhibition’s visual and thematic ambitions. For example, Reni’s use of camouflage prints in ALWAYS (2021) (a set of four canvases) is continued in the custom wallpaper behind the work, metaphorically breaking away from his painterly expression and away from the museum object. limit. Vibrant pinks, yellows and blues on the canvases and purples, navy and greens on the walls also challenge stereotypes of “authentic” Aboriginal art, such as its association with “natural” colors and earth tones.
The NGV missed the opportunity to match such an important exhibition of a living Australian artist with an accompanying catalogue, while the animal-themed collection exhibition in the hall is accompanied by a handsome tome. still, reexamine It feels like an important art historical moment. In the wall text, the artist recalls the disconnect he felt between Aboriginal objects during his childhood visits to the NGV and his own life experiences growing up in Melbourne. Decades later, Rainey created an exhibition that I think he would have respected as a child.
REKOSPECTIVE: The Art of Reko Rennie The exhibition continues at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (Federation Square, Flinders Street and Russell Street, Melbourne, Australia) until 27 January. The exhibition is organized by the museum.
