Danie Mellor marru | the unseen visible
Danie Mellor, Ngadjon-jii/Mamu peoples, Australia b.1971 / Dark star waterfall (still) 2025 / Two-channel video projection: 16:9, colour, sound, 24 minutes; historic footage and images: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Queensland State Archives, State Library of Queensland / © Danie Mellor / This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body through a VACS Major Commissioning project / Courtesy: The artist and Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne / View full image
When
15 Mar – 3 Aug 2025
Where
Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery 14
Admission
Free
About
Danie Mellor’s multidisciplinary art practice explores Australia’s shared history through the lens of his Ngadjon-jii, Mamu and Anglo-Celtic ancestry and ongoing connection to Country in the Atherton Tablelands and rainforests of far north Queensland.
‘marru | the unseen visible’ brings together works examining memory and remembrance; the relationship between First Nations people, culture and Country; and the environmental and social impact of colonial history.
'marru' translates as ‘becoming visible’ in the Dyirbal language of Mellor’s matrilineal ancestors. His recomposed scenes meld archival and contemporary source imagery, reimagining historical pictorial records through painting, photography and moving image. In doing so, Mellor presents new ways of looking and visualises the unseeable and unseen.
QAGOMA commits to a deeper consideration of how we share and understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rich cultural histories and stories. Reconciliation Action Plan
Danie Mellor, Ngadjonjii/Mamu, Australia b.1971 / The far Country 2022 / Chromogenic print face-mounted to clear acrylic / 180 x 240cm / Courtesy: Danie Mellor / View full image
Danie Mellor, Ngadjonjii/Mamu, Australia b.1971 / The end of certainty 2020 / Acrylic on board with gesso and iridescent wash / 166 x 244cm / Courtesy: Danie Mellor / View full image
Danie Mellor, Ngadjonjii/Mamu, Australia b.1971 / On the edge of darkness (the sun also sets) 2020 / Acrylic on board with gesso and iridescent wash / 180 x 360.00 cm / Courtesy: Danie Mellor / View full image
‘Danie Mellor: marru | the unseen visible’, installation view, Queensland Art Gallery 2025 / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
