Vernon Ah Kee / Kuku Yalanji/Waanyi/Yidinyji/Guugu Yimithirr people / Annie Ah Sam (detail) 2008 / Charcoal, crayon and synthetic polymer paint on canvas / The James C Sourris, AM, Collection. Gift of James C Sourris, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Vernon AH KEE / Kuku Yalanji/Yidinyji/Guugu Yimithirr/Waanyi people / QLD b.1967 / Neither pride nor courage 2006 / Charcoal, crayon and synthetic polymer paint on canvas / Triptych: 174 x 240cm (each panel) / The James C Sourris, AM, Collection. Gift of James C Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2007. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist
In his video work, Cant Chant, he tells a fairytale of Aboriginal surfers reclaiming a break, juxtaposed with allusions to racial alienation and the violence of Australia’s Indigenous history. In the next room, the beautifully painted surfboards that appear in the video are hung from the ceiling as if lynched, conversing with provocative black and white wall texts such as “first person” and ‘“hang ten.”
2009, synthetic polymer paint on linen; 240.0 x 320.0 cm
2007, colour photograph
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Vol 53 No 2 Issue 1 Extraterritoriality
Vol 45 No 4 Winter 2008 Vernon Ah Kee