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Exhibition casts critical eye on beach culture
An Institute of Modern Art touring exhibition, cantchant, by contemporary Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee will go on display at the University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery on Thursday 3 February.
The exhibition will be officially opened on Thursday 17 February and will continue until Saturday 19 March.
Ah Kee is a key figure in urban Aboriginal art and is known for his incisive critiques of white Australian culture.
USC Gallery Curator Dawn Oelrich said the cantchant exhibition takes on the iconic subject of the beach and casts a critical eye on its special role in forming Australian identity.
“It pushes aside the commonsense of the beach as a destination for leisure, relaxation and fun, and presents it as a cultural battleground,” she said.
“The exhibition includes surfboards painted with north Queensland rainforest shield designs, wall text and a three-screen video installation.”
Ah Kee is a member of the Brisbane-based artist collective proppaNOW. He has exhibited in France, Germany, Austria and Canada, and is represented in the collections of Queensland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
His work was featured in the Aboriginal Triennial, Culture Warriors at the National Gallery of Australia, the 2010 Biennale of Sydney, and represented Australia at the 2009 Venice Biennale group show, Once Removed.
cantchant is supported by the Contemporary Touring Initiative through Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian Government and state and territory governments.
The Institute of Modern Art receives financial assistance for the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council and through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy.
The USC Gallery is located at the University campus on Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs. It is open free to the public from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sundays and public holidays.
cantchant is the first exhibition of the 2011 University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery exhibition program, which is proudly supported by Coastline BMW and the Kurtz family.
— Terry Walsh