Gordon Hookey
  • Gordon Hookey, ‘All the natives laughed as the cruel joke was played on poor li’l Pinky’, 1997. Installation view, ‘Gordon Hookey: A MURRIALITY’, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Photo: Joe Ruckli. Courtesy of the artist and National Museum of Australia, Canberra. © Gordon Allan Hookey / Copyright Agency, 2022.⁠

  • Gordon Hookey, 'New commission', 2022. Installation view, 'Gordon Hookey: A MURRIALITY', Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. © Gordon Allan Hookey / Copyright Agency, 2022. Photo: Joe Ruckli.

  • Gordon Hookey, 'Reiteration in Perpetuity', 2010, oil on canvas, 183 x 122cm each. Installation view, 'Gordon Hookey: A MURRIALITY', Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. © Gordon Allan Hookey / Copyright Agency, 2022.

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Gordon Hookey

A MURRIALITY

22 October–23 December 202222 Oct–23 Dec 2022

#GordonHookey

A MURRIALITY is the first survey of renowned Waanyi artist Gordon Hookey, charting three decades of practice where artmaking and activism fuse.

Gordon Hookey’s work is best known for its biting satire of Australian culture and politics, its witty critique of racism, and an exploration of oral and image-based history-making traditions. Across sculpture, printmaking, video, and large-scale painting, A MURRIALITY presents perspectives on historical and contemporary issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Through the lens of Hookey’s lived experience as a Murri person, this includes legal injustices, international conflict, cultural representations, and language.

The exhibition features a significant new commission that draws inspiration from Hookey’s vast collection of political posters and continues his acclaimed series of protest banners. Made for use in the public realm at Invasion Day marches and rallies recognising Aboriginal resistance fighter Dundalli, Hookey’s banners provide timely socio-political commentary while also imagining a truly empowered Indigenous future.

Please note: This exhibition contains adult content including strong language and graphic imagery.

 

Curated By
  • Liz Nowell and José Da Silva
Off-Site Venues
Artist Bio
Gordon Hookey

Gordon Hookey was born in Cloncurry, Queensland in 1961. He currently lives and works in Brisbane. Hookey belongs to the Waanyi people and locates his art at the interface where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures converge. Hookey’s work is informed by domestic and international events and policies that affect Indigenous communities globally, with his lived experience as a Murri and Aboriginal person at the forefront of his work. His style and approach is distinctive in its vibrancy and best known for its biting satire of Australia’s political landscape, its leaders and representatives. Hookey is a core member of Brisbane-based Indigenous collective proppaNOW alongside fellow artists including Richard Bell, Vernon Ah Kee and Jennifer Herd. His work is held in major collections within Australia including the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth, the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Hookey has shown work nationally at The National: New Australian Art, the National Indigenous Triennial, the Biennale of Sydney, the 10th Asia–Pacific Triennial and internationally at documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens.

Related Resources

The IMA acknowledges, thanks, and pays our deepest respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that we work with and the Country we work on. 

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