2 – 26 February 2022
Despard Gallery, in association with Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, is pleased to present a second major curated exhibition featuring three leading indigenous artists from Lockhart River; Fiona Omeenyo, Samantha Hobson and Rosella Namok.
Opening Event – Friday 4 February from 5:30pm
Lockhart River is a small community, located eight hundred kilometres north of Cairns on the Eastern Cape York Peninsula and underpins the motivation behind each artist’s creative purpose. Which Way? presents a suite of contemporary works by each artist, including paintings and sculptures, carefully curated to reveal how their distinctive styles blend the traditional experiences from their birthplace with contemporary social issues. The exhibition will be remotely opened by Associate Professor Sally Butler, lecturer in art history at the University of Queensland and author of Our Way (2007), an anthology on the youth-driven Aboriginal art initiative from Lockhart River.
Click here to request exhibition catalogue for Which Way? – Rosella Namok, Samantha Hobson & Fiona Omeenyo.
EXHIBITION VIDEO
Introduction to the artists work and opening address by Associate Professor Sally Butler, lecturer in art history at the University of Queensland and author of Our Way [2007], an anthology on the youth-driven Aboriginal art initiative from Lockhart River.
Samantha Hobson, Rosella Namok and Fiona Omeenyo are attributed as key members of the Lockhart River Art Gang, a unique indigenous artist collective developed the in the 1990s. Acknowledged as highly innovative artists who established the first youth-driven art movement from Australian Aboriginal communities, Hobson, Namok and Omeenyo demonstrated a commitment to be creatively independent through exciting and vibrant artworks, each with a distinctive approach. This new generation of indigenous artists reveal a determination to be themselves, forming a community of young individuals. Since that time, each of the three artists have established reputations as leading contemporary artists, who through their practice, explore their Aboriginality as women, as well as balancing life between community and city. Which Way? reveals how painting remains a poignant contribution to a greater conversation around the complexities for indigenous Australians in contemporary society and how each artist continues to navigate this journey, both as individuals and as a community. As such, paintings and sculptures by Hobson, Namok and Omeenyo offer contemporary assessments on cultural differences and similarities, as well as enabling an important dialogue around how young creative indigenous voices can offer critical cultural perspectives.
EXHIBITION IMAGES
[Images by Mick Richards and courtesy of Fireworks Gallery]
GALLERY VIEWS
