Vernon Ah Kee
City Gallery Wellington | Te Whare Toi
Deane Gallery: 25 September–14 November 2010
Curated by Reuben Friend
In 2010, City Gallery Wellington mounted a major showcase of art from the collection of US American arts patrons David Teplitzky and Peggy Scott. The project, entitled Roundabout°, involved collecting and commissioning art from established and emerging artists from Australasia, the Pacific, Asia, the US, the Middle East, Europe, and Russia— with a strong focus on BIPOC artists.
As part of the Roundabout° project, I was fortunate to curate two solo art exhibitions by Aboriginal Australian artists Vernon Ah Kee (25 September–14 November 2010) and Tony Albert (Pay Attention, 20 November 2010–16 January 2011). Ah Kee and Albert belong to the super star artist collective Proppa Now based in Brisbane, Australia. The collective consists of Richard Bell, Shannon Brett, Megan Cope, Lily Eather, Jennifer Herd, Gordon Hookey and Warraba Weatherall.
Vernon Ah Kee’s shield surfboards were first conceptualised in 2007 in response to the 2005 Cronulla riots. The beach in Australia has often been associated with white recreation, but for Aboriginal people it represents something entirely different. The beach, particularly around Sydney, was the site of first contact between Aboriginal people and European coveters and colonists. It was also the site of the first sustained conflict. This suite of shield boards continues Ah Kee’s inquiry into dehumanisation, this time through the history of slavery.
Ah Kee is widely known for his portraiture and his text-based works. The monochrome, block-lettered Helvetica print paintings exemplify a staple component of his practice. Text works by Ah Kee often appear alongside his portraits and installations, narrating the works around them. When encountered in the gallery, the visually overwhelming density of the typeface recalls the waves of racist discourse about Aboriginal people in Australia. Ah Kee’s text works are also worn on T-shirts distributed by the artist (including the works iseedeadlypeople and aboriginalallthetime). They have become embedded in the fabric of the community through their appearance as streetwear, leaving the gallery wall and appearing at inner-city protests and civic gatherings. Wherever you see them, a clear and sovereign voice of Aboriginal subjectivity runs through the text. The direct address recalls the style of activist poets, such as Kevin Gilbert, who is often credited as an influence on Ah Kee, alongside artists such as Gordon Bennett and Trevor Nickolls.
Vernon Ah Kee was born in Innisfail, North Queensland, in 1967. He is a descendant of the Kuku Yalanji, Yidinyji and Guugu Yimithirr people of North Queensland and has kinship connections to the Waanyi people of central western Queensland.
