Now Open: A Huge (Free) Retrospective on Contemporary Kamilaroi Artist Reko Rennie

Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie started his art practice in the street art scene, but nearly 20 years later his contemporary art spans paintings, sculptures and video. “I just don’t work in one medium, I work across all of them,” Rennie tells Broadsheet at the opening of his first retrospective show, Rekospective: The Art of Reko Rennie, at the Ian Potter Centre.

NGV Australia is showing over 100 artworks from Rennie, who is considered one of Australia’s most important contemporary artists. The first room is divided in two by an arrow-shaped plinth holding two rectangular gold sculptures guarding the entrance. A warrior holding a spear is blackened into each reflective surface, their figures mirrored by the neon sculptures behind.

A gap between the works shows a glimpse into the next room, where a large banner reads “I WAS ALWAYS HERE”. Each word is embossed in gold against a backdrop of Rennie’s distinctive fluorescent pink and green diamonds and monochrome camouflage.

Curator Myles Russel Cook says the exhibition “explores themes of sovereignty, advocacy, politics, visibility, identity, and the urban Blak experience”. Rennie explores personal and collective histories in his work. One of the highlights is Initiation OA_RR, 2016 – a video triptych showing a pink 1973 Holden Monaro in Melbourne’s west. The film is accompanied by an original operatic score composed and performed by Yorta Yorta woman, composer and soprano, Deborah Cheetham AO. It’s a homage to his grandmother, Julia, who was taken from her family as part of the stolen generation.

“My grandmother wanted to be a soprano, but the white family that adopted her to be a maid wouldn’t allow her to study music, so her dream of becoming a soprano was shattered,” Rennie says. “To be able to commission Deborah Cheetham, one of the world’s foremost sopranos to sing in my grandmother’s language is really beautiful.”

“I’m really proud of that work. It’s pretty close to my heart.”

In the exhibition, Rennie’s signature camouflage motif comes off the canvas and is amplified as wallpaper. Jagged swipes of black, purple, green and pink act as the backdrop for Big Red, a colossal red, yellow and black kangaroo that won Rennie the 2008 Koorie Heritage Trust Acquisition Award and allowed him to pursue art full time.

In the final room, a pool of red light beams from Remember Me – a 15-metre-long neon installation that was originally commissioned by Carriageworks in Sydney and has now been acquired by the NGV. The work was created in response to the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s first landfall at Botany Bay.

Born and raised in Footscray, Rennie’s early street art gave rise to his trademark OA (Original Aboriginal) tag and his distinctive camouflage designs. Initiation OA_RR, 2021 builds on the visuals and themes of his Holden Monaro video, Initiation OA_RR, 2016, with visuals of the artist driving a Rolls Royce customised in his renowned camouflage. Both the video and Rolls Royce are on display in the Ian Potter Centre, showing Rennie’s interest in materiality and the influences of subcultures, from Australian car culture to graffiti.

Rekospective: The Art of Reko Rennie is open now at the Ian Potter Centre until January 27, 2025. Entry is free.

ngv.vic.gov.au

Additional reporting by Emma Joyce.