Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2017 Site Specific: The power of place

The memory of Place: Julie Gough and Judy Watson

Mr Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer, Art History,

21st and 22nd June 2017

Lecture summary: Like the pools of pigment and washes of ochre that seep slowly into her canvases, Judy Watson (Waanyi, born 1959) absorbs the stories of the Waanyi people to create works of art that resonate with cultural memory. Through listening to oral histories, delving into official records and travelling into country, Watson has developed a visual language that responds to the pre-contact and post-colonial experiences of her people. While much of the artist’s oeuvre work is concerned with the specifics of northwest , Watson’s career has been punctuated by many residencies in Australia and overseas, and these opportunities have engendered a sensitivity to the politics of place. Similarly, Julie Gough (Trawlwoolway, born 1965) invites viewers to revisit events, places and practices to counteract the selective accounts of Tasmanian History. Gough’s strength as an artist lies in her ability to underscore the amnesiac tendencies of contemporary Australian society in ways that are uncompromising and achingly beautiful. Through her experiential and interrogative practice she models the importance of self-involvement in these historical narratives and demonstrates the value of gathering the past into the present occasioning moments of personal and national understanding.

Reference: Bhabha, Homi K, The location of culture, London, Routledge, 2010. Broome, Richard, , Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2010. Bullock, Natasha, MCA collection handbook, The Rocks, Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2016. Croft, Brenda. L. Culture warriors: National Indigenous art triennial. Canberra, ACT, National Gallery of Australia, 2007. Gilchrist, Stephen. Everywhen: the eternal present in indigenous art from Australia. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard Art Museums, 2016. Gilchrist, Stephen, Judy Watson: Waterline, , Vic, Tolarno Galleries, 2011. Gough, Julie, ‘Being there, then and now – aspects of south east Aboriginal art’, in Land Marks Judith Ryan, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, 2006, pp.125 -131. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2010 Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2010 Report Iseger-Pilkington, Glenn. Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards: 2011. Perth, WA, Art Gallery of , 2011.

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Martin-Chew, Louise and Watson, Judy, Judy Watson: blood language. Carlton, Vic, Miegunyah Press, 2009. May, Sally, McKinnon, Jennifer F. and Raupp, Jason T, Boats on Bark: an Analysis of Groote Eylandt Aboriginal Bark-Paintings featuring Macassan Praus from the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition, Northern Territory, Australia, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Vol. 39/1, July, 2009, p 2. Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Act 2001 Middleton, Alison, “Naval officer breaks down at SIEV 36 inquest” ABC news website, January 27, 2010, viewed 20 August 2011 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-01-27/naval-officer-breaks-down-at-siev-36-inquest/311114 Morphy, Frances and Morphy, Howard “Refractions through saltwater country”, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, The Academy, Canberra, A.C.T, Dialogue 2009 Vol. 28 Number 1, p 15. National Gallery of Victoria, Artist File, Julie Gough. Pinchbeck, Cara, Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2013. Ryan, Judith. Disquiet and resistance in the art of Julie Gough, Artlink, Vol. 33, No. 2, Jun 2013: pp. 72-76. Stanner, William The Great Australian Silence (Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1974), pp 24–5. Scates, Bruce, A Monument to Murder: Celebrating the Conquest of Aboriginal Australia in Layman, Lenore and Tom Stannage (eds), Celebrations in Western Australian History (Studies in Western Australian History X), University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1989. The Hon Julia Gillard, MP, Prime Minister of Australia, Moving Australia Forward: Address to the Lowy Institute, Sydney, 6 July 2010.

Slide list: 1. The Explorers' Monument is a monument located in Esplanade Park in Fremantle, Western Australia, Photograph: Stephen Gilchrist 2. Judy Watson, bunya, 2011, pigment, acrylic and watercolor pencil on canvas, Private Collection, Melbourne 3. Judy Watson, burning boats, flat earth theory, 2011, pigment, pastel and acrylic on canvas 4. Judy Watson, cyclone yasi, 2011, acrylic and pencil on canvas 5. Judy Watson, names of natives, 2011, pigment, acrylic and pencil on canvas 6. Judy Watson, museum piece, 1998, etching with lift-ground aquatint, Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 1998, 341.1998, 7. Judy Watson, museum piece, etched on glass, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France 8. Judy Watson, salt in the wound, 2008, ochre, salt, brush, wax, wire, nails, string 9. Judy Watson, the names of places, interactice multimedia 10. Julie Gough, Dark Valley, Van Diemen’s Land, 2008 Tasmanian Fingal Valley coal, nylon, Northern Midlands, Tasmanian dropped antlers, Tasmanian oak, Purchased with funds provided by the Patricia Lucille Bernard Bequest Fund 2008, 348.2008.a–c, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 11. Julie Gough, Bind, 2008, Black crow shells, twined Lomandra longifolia, Northern Midlands dropped antlers, Tasmanian oak, Purchased with funds provided by the Patricia Lucille Bernard Bequest Fund 2008. 349.2008.a-c Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 12. Julie Gough, Some words for change 2008, Tea tree sticks, paper, plastic & wax 13.Julie Gough, Chase, Tea Tree (Myrtaceae family), cotton, steel, jute, Gift of the artist, 2005, 2005.400.1-374, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne .

For access to all past lecture notes visit: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/site-specific/