Spanning almost two decades, ‘The Island’ profiles Vernon Ah Kee’s diverse practice in its entirety, comprising a three-channel video work, The Island (2018), as well as his drawing, vinyl and installation works. The exhibition also includes newly commissioned works – a multi-channel video work and an installation piece – responding to the romantic and exotic notions of ‘the island’, and the idea of Australia shifting issues offshore. The latter will include several riot shields drawn upon with charcoal and expands on themes and concepts found in Ah Kee’s latest video work, Kick the Dust (2019), reflecting on racially motivated violence in Australia and the disparity in justice.
In ‘The Island’, Ah Kee delivers a direct critique of Australian culture from an Indigenous perspective (as a member of the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr peoples).
Vernon Ah Kee, The Island, 2018 (still, detail), three channel digital video. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane
Campbelltown Arts Centre
2 January to 23 February 2020
Sydney
