Issue 30:1 | March 2010 | Blak on blak

Blak on blak

Political, satirical, hard-hitting art by blak artists around Australia is assessed and discussed by blak writers. Brought to prominence by the collective ProppaNOW in Brisbane, these works challenge ignorance and racism through deadly blak humour, irony and parody. Queensland, known in the 1980s as the Moonlight State, was the hotbed that bred the confrontational art of these artists.

In a dynamic Australian publishing first both the Editor Daniel Browning, and assistant editor Tess Allas, are Indigenous, and all of the features are written by Indigenous writers.

Some like Djon Mundine, Margo Neale and Brenda L Croft are well known as curators and essayists, others are newer on the publishing scene. All engage vigorously with their subjects - the artists Vernon Ah Kee, Richard Bell, Fiona Foley, Gordon Hookey, Tony Albert and Jennifer Herd. Donna Leslie provides a poignant look back at pioneer of political Aboriginal art, the late Lin Onus. The politics of skin, Aboriginality, colonial history and gender are a part of the mix with the works of Dianne Jones, Bindi Cole, Yhonnie Scarce and Gary Lee.