skeletons
13 September - 27 October 2024
skeletons
Judy Watson
Judy Watson, bones (detail), 2021. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
This exhibition opens the closet doors to Australia’s skeletons. An invitation to explore an alternative national narrative. Discovering buried evidence within the state’s archives, bringing light to undisclosed happenings, validating the mistruth of terra nullius, subsequent colonial conflicts, and the continuation of Aboriginal resistance.
Judy Watson’s video works are presented alongside her raw, unframed and unstretched textile works that directly reference research from the archives. Artworks are an exploration of controverted histories that provide moments of recognition for First Nation peoples, acknowledging their hardship, resilience, spirit and continued sovereignty.
Exhibitions launch
6pm Friday 13 September 2024. Speeches from approx. 6:30pm.
skeletons will open alongside Rhonda Stevens' Regardé Aqua and Print Council of Australia's Print Commission 2024.
Public Programs
Dive deeper into the skeletons and Regardé Aqua exhibitions with associated programs:
10am Saturday 14 September - skeletons | In Conversation
11am Saturday 14 September - Talk with Troy Casey
10am Sunday 6 October - Regardé Aqua | In Conversation
Free events | Bookings are not required however capacity limits may apply.
skeletons is curated by Amanda Hayman of Blaklash, supported by Milani Gallery, and commissioned by Queensland State Archives. Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and the North Australian Festival of Arts are the presenting partners for the exhibition.
Judy Watson was born in Mundubbera, Queensland in 1959 and is a Waanyi descendant of north-west Queensland. Her ancestry and personal experiences have greatly influenced her artistic practice, which spans a variety of media including painting, printmaking, video, sculpture and installation. She often addresses the complex history of colonialism and its impact on Indigenous communities. She explores themes of migration, survival and recovery, seeking to bring awareness and understanding to these issues. Her work is a powerful means of storytelling and a form of cultural preservation. Exhibiting extensively since the 1980s, Watson co-represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale and won the Works on Paper Award at the 23rd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award in 2006. She was also the recipient of the National Gallery of Victoria’s 2006 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award. In 2011, Watson’s exhibition waterline was shown at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC, and in 2012, she exhibited in the Sydney Biennale. In 2018, the Art Gallery of New South Wales staged a major exhibition of her work titled the edge of memory. Watson has also received commissions for several public art projects across Australia, including fire and water at Reconciliation Place in Canberra in 2007, ngarunga nangama: calm water dream at 200 George St in Sydney in 2016, and in the same year, tow row for the Gallery of Modern Art’s 10th Anniversary in Brisbane. mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri, a significant survey of Judy Watson’s practice, opened in 2024 at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Her work is also included in several significant Australian and international collections, including all of Australia’s state institutions, the National Gallery of Australia, the Tokyo National University of Technology, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the British Museum, and MCA/ TATE. Watson is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, and in 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Art History by the University of Queensland.
Above: Judy Watson. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
Also on display during this period
All Exhibitions
COVID Safe Visits
Umbrella asks that visitors adhere to social distancing, visitor logs, and other COVID Safe directives and procedures as directed.
Open Hours
Tues - Fri: 9am-5pm
Sat - Sun: 9am-1pm
Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks.
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Contact
408 Flinders Street,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
PO Box 2394,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
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Acknowledgement of Country
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region - Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal - as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
Umbrella is a Dealer Member of the Indigenous Art Code. This means we are committed to fair and ethical trade with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and transparency in the promotion and sale of artwork. As a Dealer Member and signatory to the Code we must act fairly, honestly, professionally and in good conscience in all direct or indirect dealings with artists.
Acknowledgements
Umbrella is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. | Umbrella is supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. | Townsville City Council is a funding partner of Umbrella's program.
