
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
With the opening of ‘Balance 1990: Views, Visions, Influences’, which reflects the range and diverse manifestations of the rich and complex Aboriginal culture, comes the opportunity of seeing and evaluating an area of activity in the visual arts which previously has not been collated into a cohesive and deliberate format; it is a concept of a shared aesthetic in which works by Aboriginal and White Australian artists, using both traditional and contemporary images and a variety of media, cross previously accepted boundaries and merge culturally.
One can interpret this as a continuing search for Aboriginal identity in traditional, regional and urban environments. In the work of the White Australian artists, there often exists, either in part or in total, a constant manifestation of Aboriginal social, political and (on occasions) religious issues, through images which appropriate elements of traditional Aboriginal art. They are works in which White Australians can begin to establish their relationship with the disparate manifestations of Aboriginal culture.
‘Balance 1990’ does reveal a variety of views, visions and influences, but in many cases a balance or equilibrium has not been achieved in the issues raised and approached in the images themselves, and this gives the exhibition its immediate relevance and dynamism.
This exhibition is the first co-ordinated national exposure given to this important and active area of Aboriginal and White Australian collaboration in the visual arts.
— Doug Hall, 1990
The above excerpt is drawn from Doug Hall’s foreword to Balance 1990: Views, Visions, Influences [exhibition catalogue], Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1990.
Feature image: Works installed for ‘Balance 1990’, QAG, 1990 (scan from colour side, QAGOMA Library) / Photograph: Ray Fulton, QAGOMA