Simon Gende
APT9
Born 1969 Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea
Lives and works in Goroka, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinean artist Simon Gende is known for his often humorous and insightful commentary on international events and icons. Working with saturated colour and stylised or silhouetted figures, Gende paints subjects as diverse as the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, and Diana, Princess of Wales, lifting them from the pages of major print media and presenting them in an alternative universe — the urban and rural landscape of Papua New Guinea. Gende was born in Gere in the Gembogl district of Chimbu province and is from the Kuman language group. Inspired by fellow Chimbu artist, the late Mathias Kauage, he began painting in 1989 and is now one of Papua New Guinea’s most respected artists.
Simon Gende / Kuman people / Papua New Guinea b.1969 / Kawage spearing the Australian first plane to PNG 2018 / Acrylic on canvas / 77 x 118cm / Collection: The artist / © Simon Gende / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
Papua New Guinean artist Simon Gende is known for his paintings that provide often humorous and insightful commentary on society, religion, history and contemporary events. His artworks on display in APT9 were inspired by a week-long visit to Brisbane in 2017, during which time he was introduced to the work of Indigenous Australian artists Vincent Namatjira and his late grandfather Albert Namatjira (1902–59). On this trip, Gende also researched Papua New Guinea’s history using the State Library of Queensland’s archives, and ventured into Brisbane’s nightlife.
Drawing on newspaper accounts and previously accepted historical evidence — anthropological, art historical, photographic and oral — Gende reinterprets these sources in new combinations according to his particular world view. Characterised by directness, saturated with colour, suffused with irony, and using stylised or silhouetted figures, Gende’s paintings draw attention to the subjectivities involved in the framing of history.
