Jenny Fraser

       

Michelle Blakeney,  Richard Bell, Lonnie Hutchinson, Djon Mundine

‘Out of the dark’ - night shots from Indigenous artists

We always think of things digital and the internet as instantaneous communication and creation, but some things take time to develop and reflect on.  The exhibition ‘Out of the dark’ comes out of a six months period of collective experiences, friendships, and inspiration brought together by artist/curator Jenny Fraser.  It’s a mark of a creative lifestyle that many of Australia’s contemporary Indigenous artists lead today. 

‘Out of the dark’ developed from the existence of a set of artists working with new technologies, photography and video.  WiseART manager Dita Brooke offered the Gallery space to Jenny Fraser who had just received Michael Torres’ ‘Butterfly’ image.  It triggered her memory of wanting to do something with night shots – natural forces that are seen - visible and invisible in the night and how they are captured by technology.  She then only chose people who she knew had existing work or asked them to create a work for the show.  Jenny is a practicing artist who takes on an organising role “I just see things that need to be done, and I try to lead by example.”

 

The artists in ‘Out of the dark’ come from a wide geographical spread within Australia and abroad.  cyberTribe mostly presents online exhibitions - this is really one of the few gallery space exhibitions shown.

 

Installation artist Lonnie Hutchinson from Aotearoa, NZ and Painter/Propagandist, Richard Bell (2003 Telstra Art Award winner) are (in)famous already and while photography is a not an unfamiliar medium, they welcome the opportunity to exhibit photographs in ‘Out of the Dark’. 

 

Terrance Houle is a Installation/Performance artist from the Blood tribe, Blackfoot country, Canada. His performance installations combine traditional dancewear and objects of American kitsch. He sent his newly created night shots by express courier from the First Nations Gallery in Calgary. 

 

Michael Torres is a Yawuru graphic designer and video editor working in multi media and based in Broome.  This is Michaels first exhibition in Queensland and he has especially created ‘Dark Ghost’ an entirely new series for ‘Out of the Dark’.

 

Jason Davidson is a new media artist who goes out bush and captures his traditional homelands through night photography.  His people are from Kalkaringi and Ngukurr and he now lives between his base in Darwin and his artists-residency at Symbiotica in Perth.

 

Tina Wamathana Baum is a Larrakia Digital artist/curator out of Darwin and is living and working in Canberra. She has a particular enthusiam for digital media which she shares with her kids.

 

Djon Mundine is a Bundjalung artist/curator, and a well-published writer on Aboriginal Art. He is often referred to as the “Ambassador for Aboriginal Art” by artists and curators in Australasia, the Pacific Rim and Europe.  ‘I made a mark’ is a shadow self-portrait that results from the Indigenous dialogues shared through his varied travels. 

 

Michelle Blakeney is a Bundjalung photographer from NSW, and works as a stills photographer and video camera operator in the film industry. Michelle is currently exploring video-capture techniques. ‘Out of the Dark’ is her first exhibition. 

 

The show includes video works by the ‘White Hot’ performance group, led by Melbourne-based Bidjara artist Christian Thompson, and the new video work ‘Dark day at sea’ projected by Bundjalung artist Jenny Fraser. 

 

Indigenous people’s relationship with nightfall and darkness has a historical connection.  Most would tell of night time phenomena in all its beauty and mystery and the unknown.  Unwritten histories passed down through family in the oral tradition, rituals, lessons and even ghost stories are re-told by firelight.  ‘Inside – outside’ meanings are grounded in the cultural belief systems of our ancestors.  Signs and revelations that are hidden sometimes reveal themselves to the ‘initiated’.  

 

Artists working with new technologies are developing their own language and systems of communication.  By embracing new mediums these artists are speaking to us in their own languages, through their own histories, of their Indigenous experience.

 

Avril Quaill, Associate Curator, Indigenous Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery, 2004

 

      

                                Michael Torres                        Jason Davidson                                 Terrance Houle