 Unmasked
Sidney
Nolan and Ned Kelly 1950 - 1990
11 November 2006 - 4 March 2007
Sidney
Nolan’s original Ned Kelly series, painted
at Heide during 1946–47, has been widely acclaimed
and extensively researched. Much less attention however,
has been given to the artist’s numerous later
representations of the legendary Australian bushranger.
This exhibition explores, for the first time, Nolan’s
ongoing artistic engagement with the Kelly myth after
he left Australia permanently in 1953, a fascination
that lasted for the next three decades.
For Nolan, Ned Kelly was an intensely compelling figure:
he was of working class Irish–Australian stock
like the artist himself; a natural leader with an instinctive
command of language; and an archetypal tragic hero.
As Nolan’s career developed, he became inextricably
associated with Kelly and the iconic black square mask
he had invented to represent the outlaw.
This exhibition reveals the ways in which Nolan's
Kelly, behind the black mask, was a complex figure
whose significance reaches well beyond the shores of
his native homeland.
For further information and viewing times visit Heide
Museum of Modern Art. |
