“There’s nothing wrong with being flash,” says Reko Rennie, speaking to Broadsheet at the opening of his new exhibition Urban Rite. The Melbourne-based artist says the term “flash black” can be derogatory, but he’s done with feeling shame for wanting nice things.
“I don’t need to align myself with having shame or guilt over having nice things. Why not, as Aboriginal people, have a nice car and have a nice house? Why don’t we see ourselves in middle class Australia? We’ve had so much taken away, now’s our time to shine and be proud of who we are and where we come from,” he says.
Eight new paintings by the artist hang on the walls at Ames Yavuz gallery in Surry Hills. Pretty Boy, shows a figure with crossed arms wearing a blue shirt, gold rings and a gold Rolex. The figure’s face, neck and arms have Rennie’s distinctive diamond pattern, which he uses in homage to his connection to the Kamilaroi people of northern New South Wales.
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SIGN UP“We are part of the oldest living continuing culture in the world but we’re also sophisticated citizens who can occupy spaces in whatever fields and avenues we pursue. In a basic sense it’s about dreaming big and seeing yourself there.”
Rennie grew up in Footscray, Melbourne. He started out as a street artist, and 20 years on he’s a prolific multi-medium contemporary artist. His Sydney exhibition coincides with a major retrospective on now at NGV Australia, Rekospective: The Art of Reko Rennie.
“I think the survey show gave me the confidence to go, ‘I’ve done an incredible amount of work’. It was a catalyst to do some new work that’s self-reflective,” he says. There’s some vulnerability to showing Urban Rite, the artist says. “People can misconstrue it as being flashy, but it’s not that; it’s that I’ve broken a cycle. I’ve come from nothing.
“There are attributes to these works that are symbols of success and wealth, and at the end of the day they’re materialistic possessions but in a wider context they’re about having an opportunity – the right – to see ourselves and occupy these spaces. It’s only a generation or two ago that my people were considered flora and fauna, not even a citizen of their own country.”
The artist recalls having posters of Ferraris and Porsches on his wall as a kid in the ’80s. Cars and car culture are recurring symbols in Rennie’s work. Four of the paintings feature classic cars, including one of a Rolls Royce that’s on display in the Ian Potter Centre. “I really like this piece because my 20-year-old daughter painted this with me. There’s this generational link. She’s the future with nothing holding her back.”
There is also a video work, Initiation OA_RR, 2016, showing the artist driving a pink 1973 Holden Monaro around Melbourne’s west, where he says he used to joyride as a kid. “I grew up near the docks and shipping yards in Footscray. There were a lot of gangsters in the area. I remember one of them had a really nice blue and black GTS Monaro, so I thought this Monaro would be a good vehicle to use to reclaim that version of toxic masculinity. I had the number plate ‘ACAB 1’ made and rather than have a violent burnout sequence, I made it softer, along with the bel canto style opera score.”
The film’s score is performed by Yorta Yorta woman Deborah Cheetham AO, who sings in Kamilaroi language. It’s a tribute to Rennie’s grandmother Julia. She wanted to be a soprano but her adoptive white family wouldn’t let her. “She was basically made to be a maid and servant for them ... Her dreams were shattered as a young person.”
Rennie’s faceless figures and images of flash cars send a message not only to other Aboriginal people but to the global art market. “There’s been this stereotyped and romanticised version of where Aboriginal people fit, and usually that’s from a very Anglicised and Western view,” says Rennie. “So this is about making a statement as a mob, as a collective, saying we deserve to have a seat at the table.”
Reko Rennie: Urban Rite is on now until November 9 at Ames Yavuz Gallery, 114 Commonwealth Street, Sydney.