Richard Bell
Richard Bell | Kamilaroi people | Australia b.1953 | Bell's Theorem (Trikky Dikky and friends) 2005 | Synthetic polymer paint on canvas | The James C Sourris, AM, Collection. Gift of James C Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | © The artist
Ten Years of Contemporary Art: The James C Sourris AM Collection | 12 November 2011 — 19 February 2012 | GOMA | Free admission
Richard Bell’s work confronts taboo issues at cultural interfaces in Australia. He constantly challenges stereotypical ideas of Aboriginal culture and art, as well as the forces that drive the production of, and market for, Indigenous art today.
Bell’s Theorem (Trikky Dikky and friends) asserts ‘Australian art it’s an Aboriginal thing’. In the far right of the work, Bell (a master of provocation) nominates many of Australia’s most respected artists as having gained fame by appropriating the art of Indigenous Australians. Bell’s pointed statement also suggests that there is no one style that Indigenous artists must adopt and no single way in which they should work.
