Indigenous Australian Artist Gordon Bennett

Indigenous Australian artist Gordon Bennett re-contextualises the work of Colin McCahon by borrowing and transforming key visual features. Bennett’s work challenges the viewer and gives them an alternative perspective of the culture and identity of Indigenous Australians. The quote by The National Gallery of Victoria states, “Often describing his own practice of borrowing images as ‘quoting’, Bennett re-contextualises existing images to challenge the viewer to question and see alternative perspectives.” This quote is clear through analyzing the visual features as well as the meaning behind the work of Gordon Bennett’s appropriated artwork ‘Self-portrait (but I always wanted to be one of the good guys)’ (1990) and comparing it to Colin McCahon’s

Growing up, Bennett was surrounded by confronting images of Indigenous Australians causing harm or acting violent towards people, therefore, this is how Gordon Bennett viewed and was taught to believe that this is what Aboriginals were like. Bennett was not told about his mixed heritage until his teenage years, finding out that he was half Anglo-Celtic and half Aboriginal. Gordon Bennett’s artwork ‘Self-portrait (but I always wanted to be one of the good guys) (1990) questions the stereotypes that white Australians give to the rightful owners of Australia. Bennett’s artwork confronts the racism and discrimination suffered by Indigenous Australians by translating Colin McCahon’s work ‘Victory over Death’ (1970). Bennett uses the phrase “I AM” which is accompanied by the phrase, ‘I am light, I am dark’ this phrase means that Bennett has not taken a “side” to the argument and is proud of his mixed heritage. The use of white and black show the segregation that these stereotypes create, with white being the more dominant colour it shows how many people are “against” the Indigenous Australians. Through the visual features and the context of identity it is shown that Bennett has successfully appropriated the work of