Tony Albert; image supplied
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) recently unveiled its first animated commission; an activation of the exterior façade of the gallery’s iconic brutalist architecture by contemporary Aboriginal artist Tony Albert. With the title I AM VISIBLE, the work begs all to bear witness to the realities of racial profiling and miscarriages of justice in contemporary Australian society.
Albert explained: ‘The visual elements of I AM VISIBLE are really representing the visibility, and in turn invisibility, of Aboriginal people, whether that be through the media, what we read, what we see. I play with the tensions.’
‘It was definitely a moment to escalate those conversations, and to think about how we have them in contemporary Australia,’ NGA Program Producer Sally Brand told ArtsHub, who worked with Kelli Cole, NGA Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, to realise the commission with The Electric Canvas for Canberra’s Enlighten Festival (March 2019).
Drone footage of the artwork can be viewed at nga.gov.au/enlighten/.
The projection references Albert’s Brothers series, two pieces of which are included in the NGA’s collection: Brothers (New York Dreaming) (2015) and Brothers (Unalienable) (2015). Both are currently on display in the gallery.
Installation view, I AM VISIBLE (2019) for Enlighten, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Image supplied.
Brand said the gallery has consistently collected Albert’s work since his early career, and that it was fantastic to offer him this opportunity to work at such an enormous scale, and with a new media.
She told ArtsHub: ‘The collection here is the largest in the world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, and Tony has been in the collection for over a decade. This is why this work is so successful, because it builds on that long engagement.’
Albert’s wide-ranging visual practice tackles important discussions relevant to contemporary Australia; issues of neglected histories, identity, self-determination, hidden inequities and prejudiced assumptions about Aboriginality.
Tony Albert, Brothers (2015), collection of the National Gallery of Australia, courtesy the artist and Sullivan and Strumpf. Image supplied.
Albert said of his work for Enlighten: ‘There is something about my work that is tied to the work of optimism in the face of adversity.
‘I am particularly interested in how people are labeled within society, and what that actually means to be judged prior to recognition or understanding of who you are,’ Albert said.
Nick Mitzevich, NGA Director, added: ‘At the Gallery, we close the gap between the things that divide us, and Tony is closing that gap between the things we know and the things we don’t understand – and art is the answer.’
By weaving together so many images from Albert’s practice of the last five years, Brand suggested, the projection offers the broadest number of pathways for people to engage in conversation.
‘The Gallery is very focused on ensuring that First Nation artists are not only represented in the Collection and through new commissions, but are at the forefront of our national cultural agenda,’ she said.
Installation view, I AM VISIBLE (2019), for Enlighten, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Image supplied.
I AM VISIBLE was supported by NGA Indigenous arts partner Wesfarmers Arts.
Drone footage of I AM VISIBLE can be viewed at https://nga.gov.au/enlighten/.
Tony Albert’s artworks can be viewed in the permanent collection of the NGA.
