Gordon Bennett - Home décor (Preston + de Stijl = Citizen) Dance the boogieman blues (1997)
I’m not sure if I should be admitting this, but the truth is, I’d never heard of Gordon Bennett until I attended a media preview of his works at GoMA. I am now enlightened – and a GB fan.
As Brisbanites, we should all know about Gordon Bennett. He’s one of us – a Monto-born, Brisbane-based artist of international standing who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) degree from Queensland College in 1988 before going on to win a number of prestigious art prizes and establish an international reputation. (Good grief, how could I not have known about this man!)
The exhibition, running from 10 May to 3 August 2008, is a major retrospective, featuring more than 80 key paintings, works on paper, installations and video performance by the artist from 1987 to the present. The works are complex and sometimes confronting. Don’t go expecting soothing scenes and “pretty” depictions. The exhibition will make you think – about the issues that have preoccupied the artist for the past 20 years, namely Australian colonial identity and post-colonial politics.
If that sounds heavy, don’t be put off. Bennett’s works have incredible power and beauty. I was amazed by the scope and variety of works on display. Bennett is known for his extraordinary knowledge of western art history and his layered and complex works often incorporate images, styles or references drawn from sources such as social history books, Indigenous art and well-known Australian and international artists like Margaret Preston, Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The effect is an exhibition of impressive diversity – you could be forgiven for thinking you were viewing the works of several artists – not just one!
I was also intrigued by the occasional use of mirrors, intended to involve us in the work, to make us think about the complex issues presented. (I also like the way the mirrors reflect, quite literally, different perspectives of the work.)
Things are never settled in Bennett’s works. There are no answers, rather layers of thought-provoking questions.
