Vernon Ah Kee
Born 1967 in Innisfail, North Queensland, Australia. Lives and works in Brisbane, Australia.
Education
2001-07
Doctorate of Visual Arts (Fine Art), Queensland College of Art
1999-00
Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours (Fine Art), Queensland College of Art
1996-98
Bachelor of Visual Arts, Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art, Queensland College of Art
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2020
The Island, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, New South Wales
2019
Shadow Light, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
cantchant, Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
2017
Ode, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Will I Live, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Not a plant or an animal, National Art School Gallery, Sydney
2014
Brutalities, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2013
Invasion Paintings, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2012
Hallmarks of the Hungry, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2011
Tall Man, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, Victoria
Bad Sign, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2010
Tall Man, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Vernon Ah Kee, City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Waru, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; Kick Arts, Contemporary Arts, Cairns, Queensland
Blow your house in, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada
becauseitisbitter, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2008
belief suspension, Artspace, Sydney, New South Wales
Borninthiskin, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2007
cant chant, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland
unwritten, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
conText, Postgraduate Assessment Exhibition, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, Queensland
Drawings, Brisbane State High School, Brisbane, Queensland
2006
not an animal or a plant, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2005
you must hit, Bellas MIlani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
mythunderstanding, The Contemporary Arts Centre of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia
2004
fantasies of the good, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2003
consent, Gallery 1, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
2002
non-People, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2001
whitefella normal blackfella me, Postgraduate Exhibition, Queensland College of Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
2000
The Which Way, Queensland College of Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
1999
If I was White, Metro Arts Building, Brisbane, Queensland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020
Violent Salt (touring), Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland
Museum of Art and Culture, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales
Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australian Capital Territory
2019
Violent Salt (touring), Artspace Mackay, Mackay, New South Wales
Noosa Regional Gallery, Noosa, Queensland
Body Language, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
I, Object, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Hope Dies Last: Art at the End of Optimism, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
Australia. Antipodean Stories, Padiglione D'Arte Contemporanea Milano, Milan
Between Two Worlds, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales
2018
Boundary Lines, Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane
2018 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Divided Worlds, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
Riots: Slow Cancellation of the Future, ifa-Galerie, Berlin
Playback, Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Hunter Red: Corpus, Newcastle Gallery, Newcastle
2017
A Change Is Gonna Come, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT
Australian Collection, Permanent Hang, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
BOARD: Surf and Skate Cultures Meet Contemporary Art, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie, NSW
2016
Sugar Spin: You, me, art and everything, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia, Harvard Art Museums, MA
With Secrecy and Despatch, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW
Frontier Imaginaries, Institute of Modern Art and QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, QLD
Black,White & Restive, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
Endless Circulation: Tarrawarra Biennial, TarraWarra Museum of Art, VIC
Over the Fence, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, QLD
On the Origin of Art, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobert, TAS
Shut Up and Paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
2015
Encounters, National Museum Australia, Canberra, ACT
Propositions Three, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
When Silence Falls, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Brutal Truths, Griffith University Art Gallery, South Bank, Brisbane
The 14th Istanbul Biennial SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms, Istanbul, Turkey
GOMA Q, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
Imaginary Accord, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
Blackout, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales
See You at the Barricades, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales
2014
Saltwater Country, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, Queensland
Subject to Ruin, Casula Power House, Casula, New South Wales
Four Rooms, Adelaide Festival, Adelaide, South Australia
2013
My Country: I Still Call Australia Home, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
Voice and Reason, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
Sakahan: 1st International Quinquennial of New Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Canada, Canada
Shadowlife, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
2012-13
The Future’s Not What it Used to Be, touring Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, Wales; Newlyn Art Gallery and Exchange, Cornwall, England
Making Change: Celebrating the 40 Years of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations, touring: NAMOC, Beijing; COFA, Sydney, New South Wales
2012
Everything Falls Apart, Artspace, Sydney, New South Wales
Propositions Part 2, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Negotiating this World: Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
unDisclosed: 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2011-12
Ten Years of Contemporary Art: The James Sourris Collection, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
2011
Barack Commissions. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
The Black Sea. Kickarts Contemporary Arts, Cairns, Queensland
Counting Coup, Museum of Contemporary Native Art, New Mexico, USA
Evolving Identities: Contemporary Indigenous Art, John Curtain Gallery, Perth, Western Australia.
Erased: Contemporary Australian Drawing, Asialink International touring exhibition: Nanwang Academy of Fine Arts Gallery (NAFA), Singapore; PSG Art Gallery, Silpakorn University, Bangkok; Chiang Mai University Faculty of Fine Art Gallery, Chiang Mai; Khon Kaen University Art Gallery, Thailand; National Art School Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Touring 2009-11.
2010
roundabout. Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand.
Basil Sellers Art Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne University, Victoria
National Works on Paper Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Jus’ Drawn, Linden Contemporary Arts Centre, Melbourne, Victoria
PUTSCH proppaNOW, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, South Australia.
2009
Once Removed, 53rd Venice Biennale of Art, Venice, Italy
Terra Nullius: Contemporary Art from Australia, ACC Galerie, Weimar, Germany
I walk the line: new Australian drawing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, New South Wales
Avoiding myth and message: Australian artists & the literary world, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, New South Wales
2008
Revolutions: Forms that Turn, 2008 Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales
In the space of elsewhere, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University, London
New Millennium, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore, New South Wales
On Paper, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Optimism, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
2007
Power & Beauty: Indigenous Art Now, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Victoria
Regionalisms, University of Queensland Art Museum, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland
National Indigenous Art Triennial: Culture Warriors, National Gallery of Art, Canberra, ACT
The Amersham Trophy, Ambleside Street Studio, West End, Brisbane, Queensland
Sunshine State, Smart State, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, Sydney, New South Wales
Friendly Fire, ProppaNOW Group, George Petelin Gallery, Gold Coast, Queensland
Thresholds of Tolerance, School of Art Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
Raised by Wolves, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
2006
Yours, Mine, Ours: The ABC of Everything, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, New South Wales
There Goes the Neighbourhood, Ambleside Street Studio, Brisbane, Queensland
Colonial to Contemporary, Dell Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland
The Sixth Drawing Biennale, The Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2006, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, New South Wales
Radical Regionalism: The Empire of Shadows, Museum of London, London; Ontario, Canada
Queensland Live, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Touring: Gladstone, Logan, Bundaberg, Cairns, Ipswich, Cleveland, Mackay, Toowoomba, Queensland. Touring 2007-08
Dancelines, George Adams Gallery, The Arts Centre, Melbourne, Victoria
2005
ARC Art, Design & Craft Biennial, Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane, Queensland
Thick and Fast, The Powerhouse, Brisbane, Queensland
Art Urbain du Pacific, Diff’ Art Pacific, The Castle of St-Auvent, Saint Auvent, France
The Grey Voice, Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales
Untitled, The Lane Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Face Value: Video portraiture from the Pacific, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales; Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
2004
skin, Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania
Cultural Copy: Visual Conversations on Indigenous Art and Cultural Appropriation, The Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
blak insights: Contemporary Indigenous Art from the Queensland Art Gallery, Collection, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
ART TV 2004: Australian Culture Now, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne, Victoria
Spirit and Vision: Aboriginal Art, Sammlung Essl—Kunsthaus, Klosternburg, Austria
2003
Places That Name Us, RAKA Award: Contemporary Indigenous Visual Arts #3, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Victoria
1 Square Mile, Brisbane Boundaries, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Abstractions, The Drill Hall, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
This Is Not America, Dusseldorf, Germany; Queensland College of the Arts Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
4 x 4, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland
5 White Cubes, Forum Kunst Art Residency, Rottweil, Germany
Feedback: Art, Social Consciousness and Resistance, Museum of Art, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria
2002
Transit Narratives, Centro per la Arti Visive LE VENEZIE, Treviso, Italy; Auronzo di Cadore, Salone espositivo. Touring 2002-03
Municipio, Queensland College of the Arts Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland; Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Victoria; Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart, Tasmania
Awards and Prizes
2018
Visual Arts Fellowship, Australian Council for the Arts
2014
15 Artists Prize, 2014, Redcliffe City Art Gallery, Queensland
Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize
2012
Finalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Collections
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Artbank, Sydney
University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
University of Technology, Sydney
Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Gold Coast City Gallery, Queensland
Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania
Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
David Teplitzky and Peggy Scott Collection, Hong Kong
Kluge-ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, USA
Bibliography
Ah Kee, Vernon. “There goes the Neighbourhood – It is in the Language.” Volume One: MCA Collection, edited by Ewen McDonald, Museum of Contemporary Art, 2012, pp. 42-47.
Borninthisskin, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2009.
Browning, Daniel. “Not black enough: the politics of skin”. Artlink, vol.30, no.1. March 2010.p.22-27
Browning, Daniel. “Let’s be polite about Aboriginal Art”. Artlink, vol. 33, no. 2, June 2013, pp42-45
Bullen, Clotilde: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Raised By Wolves, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 2006, pp29-30.
Chapman, Chris: “This is Not America: Here There” Chris Chapman, This Is Not America, June 27 – August 23 2003, Griffith University, Queensland
Christov-Bakargiev, Carolyn. 2008 Biennale of Sydney: Revolutions - Forms that Turn. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Thames and Hudson Australia Pty Ltd, 2008.
Christov-Bakargiev, Carolyn. Saltwater: A Theory of Thought Forms. Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, 2014.
Clayburn, Anna: “text and tablets follow the script”, Review, Weekend Australian, May 2 – 3 2003, p21.
Creyton, Sam. The Black See. KickArts Contemporary Arts: Cairns, 2011
Croft, Brenda: “No Need Looking”, Photofile, no.66, September 2002, pp24-29.
Day, Charlotte, Feedback: Art, Social Consciousness and Resistance, Monash University Art Museum, Melbourne March – May 2003.
Destination Art, episode 1, DVD, BBC, 2006.
Devenport, Rhana: “Face Value / Voicing The Silent Witness”, Face Value: Video Portraiture From The Pacific, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005, p5.
Downes, Briony: “Cutting Skin”, Australian Art Review, issue 6, November 2004 – February 2005, p96.
Duff, Alisa. “Tall Man by Vernon Ah Kee”, Art Monthly Australia, no. 239, May 2011, pp. 5-6.
Eather, Michael: “…always from the beginning.1: Aboriginal Art Today and Tomorrow”, Spirit & Vision: Aboriginal Art, Sammlung Essl – Kunsthaus, Klosternburg, Austria, 2004, pp42-48.
Eccles, Jeremy: “Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award 2006”, Art Monthly Australia, ANU School of Art, Canberra, June 2006, no. 190, pp15-17.
Edmundson, Anna; Neale, Margot: “Learning to be Proppa: Aboriginal Artist’s Collective, ProppaNOW”, Thresholds of Tolerance, Australian National University, Canberra, 2007, pp29-38.
Eglitis, Anna: Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art: Now Day, Early Days: Art Works and Legends, Central Queensland University Press, Rockampton, QLD, 1999.
Farmer, Margaret. “Regarding the moving images of Vernon Ah Kee”. Broadsheet, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, vol 38, no.2, June-Aug 2009, pp.112-115.
Garneau, David. Toward Indigenous Criticism: The Ah Kee Paradox, Artlink, vol 33, no. 2, 2013, pp.44-49.
Gilchrist, Stephen, editor. Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia. Havard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2016.
Gordon, Craig, and Ryan Presley. Over the Fence: Contemporary Indigenous Photography from the Corrigan Collection. University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2016, pp.40-51.
Gorringe, Jenny; Foley, Fiona, skin, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart. July 8 – August 8 2004.
Handran, Chris: “4 x 4”, Artlink, rich and strange, vol. 23 no. 3, September 2004, South Australia, pp83-84.
Helmrich, Michele: “this is not america”, eyeline: Contemporary Visual Arts, no. 54, winter 2004, p48.
Helmrich, Michele; Bell, Richard: 1 square mile: brisbane boundaries, October 2003, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane City Gallery, City Hall, Brisbane, October 2003.
Helmrich, Michele: “Sexy & Dangerous”, Australian Art Review, issue 6, November 2004 – February 2005, pp86-87.
Hoffie, Pat: “blak insights”, Artlink, Currents 1, vol. 24 no. 3, September 2004, South Australia, pp82-83.
Hoffie, Pat: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Spacial Eclipses: Temporal Anchorings, Postgraduate Exhibition, QCA Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. September 8–24 1999.
Holubizky, Ihor: “In the Future”, BackFlash, Buffalo Berry Press Inc. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, June 15 2002, pp5-13.
Jones, Gary, “Vernon Ah Kee: Sovereign Warrior” Artlink, vol. 30, no. 1, March 2010, pp.44-51.
LaVallee, Michelle. Blow your house in: Vernon Ah Kee, MacKenzie Art Gallery: Regina Sask, 2010
Leonard, Robert. Vernon Ah Kee: Rainforest Surfer, Art and Australia, vol. 45, no. 4, Winter 2008, pp.640-645
Martin-Chew, Louise: “Hybrid ideas home-grown”, The Australian, June 1 2006, p40.
Martin-Chew, Louise: “The Artists”, Artlink, critical mass: the new Brisbane, vol. 23 no. 2, June 2003, pp59-60.
Martin-Chew, Louise: “Story Place”, art & australia, vol. 41 no. 3, March/April/May 2004, pp474.
McIntyre, Sophie: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Place/Displace catalogue, QCA Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. November 16 2001 – January 16 2002.
McLean, Bruce: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Queensland Live, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2006, pp14-15.
McLean, Ian. Rattling Spears: A History of Indigenous Australian Art. Reaktion Books Ltd, 2016, pp. 237-240.
Milani, Josh: “Vernon Ah Kee – If I was White”, Promise 1999, March – July 1999, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University; Metro Arts Building; the Department of Art History, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Moreton-Robinson, Aileen M. Bodies that matter: performing white possession on the beach. USLA American Indian Studies Center, 2011
Morrell, Timothy. Colonial to Contemporary: Queensland College of Art 125 Years. Griffith Artworks, 2006, pp. 108, 113.
Morrell, Timothy: “Vernon Ah Kee”, mythunderstanding catalogue essay, 2005, The Contemporary Arts Centre of South Australia, Parkside, Adelaide.
Morrell, Timothy: “Vernon Ah Kee, consent”, broadsheet: Contemporary Visual Arts + Culture, vol. 32 no. 3, July/August/September 2004, p32.
Morrell, Timothy: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Australian Art Collector, issue 35, January – March 2006, p86.
Morrell, Timothy: “in black & white: text in Indigneous Queensland art”, Artlink, the word as art, vol. 27 no. 1, Jan-March 2007, South Australia, pp33-37.
Moore, Archie: “Black Eye = Black Viewpoint: A Conversation With ProppaNOW”, Machine, vol. 1 no. 4, Brisbane, 2006, pp2-4.
Muhlberger, Emma: “one square mile: brisbane boundaries”, eyeline: Contemporary Visual Arts, no. 54, winter 2004, pp52-53.
My Country, I still Call Australia Home, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio National, 2013
Nelson, Robert: “Struggling to do political art well”, The Age, April 2 2003.
Ostling, Susan. ARC Art, Design & Craft Biennial, Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane, 2005, pg2.
Smith, Marita: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Dancelines: Contemporary Indigenous Art Inspired By Bangara Dance Theatre, The Victorian Arts Centre Trust, Melbourne, 2006, pp14-17.
Snelling, Michael. consent, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. June 12 – July 19 2003.
Snelling, Michael. “Vernon Ah Kee”, Spirit & Vision: Aboriginal Art, Sammlung Essl – Kunsthaus, Klosternburg, Austria, 2004, pp123-125.
Sakahan: International Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Canada, 2013, pp. 142-143
Storer, Russell. MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2006, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006, pp2-4.
Storer, Russell. “MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2006”, Art Matters: Museum of Contemporary Art Newsletter, Winter 06, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006, pp5-7.
Quaill, Avril: “Vernon Ah Kee”, Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rain Forest, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2003, pp.174-75.
Quaill, Avril: “There Goes The Neighbourhood”, Brought to Light II, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2007, pp.349-352.
The Artist’s Voice 2006, DVD, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006.
Young, Michael. Vernon Ah Kee, 53rd Venice Biennale participating artist, Art and Asia Pacific, no.63 May-June, 2009, pp.114-119
Yours, Mine & Ours, DVD, ABC, Sydney, 2007.
Vernon Ah Kee: Tall Man, Australian Experimental Art Foundation, 2011.
Waru: Vernon Ah Kee, KickArts Contemporary Arts, Carins, 2009.