Gordon Bennett: Be Polite
Texts by Helen Hughes, Ian McLean and Julie Nagam
Edited by Aileen Burns, Johan Lundh
Sternberg Press in partnership with Institute of Modern Art
‘Gordon Bennett: Be Polite’ follows the exhibition of largely unseen works on paper by one of Australia’s most visionary and critical artists. Sixty coloured and black and white images of Bennett’s paintings and drawings are paired with a selection of small works on paper and reproduced sketchbooks, which disclose an intimate and often humourous conversation between the artist and his craft. These artworks embrace rich layers of Indigenous art history and contemporary politics, serving as an education in Australia’s colonial history and current social and political structures, questioning racial categorisations and stereotypes and offering an alternative perspective.
