Introducing 'Richard Dunn'

‘The purpose of painting is to unite on one surface the contradictions of material, object, product, history and production in one focus.’

— Richard Dunn, 1989

In recognition of the life and work of the late Richard Dunn (1944–2024), this display brings together selected works by the artist from the Gallery’s Collection, including five recently gifted paintings from his Surveillance and Punishment 1987–88 series.

Created in the lead-up to the Australian Bicentenary, the series combines architectural statements of power and authority alongside the colourful packaging of popular consumer products. Amalgamating this diverse imagery, Dunn charts a history of surveillance and control, exploring the ‘invisible’ economic and social forces that shape our lives.

One painting from the series, Surveillance and Punishment (Pine Gap), shows the Australian and United States’ Joint Defence Facility alongside the packaging of Kodak Ektachrome camera film. Drawing comparisons between portable photography and the intelligence-gathering undertaken at Pine Gap, Dunn highlights rising levels of surveillance in both public and private life – an increase now even more apparent in the digital technologies and vast communications networks that define our contemporary world.

Displayed adjacent are two earlier paintings that further demonstrate Dunn’s ability to form sophisticated cultural critiques in the space of a single canvas. Untitled (Historical tropes) 1986 and Untitled (Art and Fear) 1986 combine abstract and figurative painting alongside references to historical events – such as the 1919 Red Flag Riot, when crowds targeted refugees at Brisbane’s Russian Hall for their perceived anti-war and pro-union beliefs – to explore relationships between visual languages and political ideologies.

This display has been made possible through the generous support of Richard Dunn's life partner, Suzanne Davies.