Reko Rennie

Reko Rennie explores his Aboriginal identity through his use of painting, stenciling, sculpture, installation and film. Although Rennie grew up in Melbourne, his heritage lies with the Kamilaroi people of northern New South Wales. The significance of this heritage was imparted to him by his grandmother Julia, with whom Rennie shared a special relationship. Julia was forcibly removed from her family during the 1920s and enslaved at a pastoral station.

In his youth, Rennie recalls a photograph of a pastoralist with his wife in their ‘Sunday best’, sitting in a luxurious Rolls-Royce car. He was struck by the injustice of his grandmother’s experience when compared to the wealth and power of the scene portrayed in the photograph. In OA_RR, Rennie uses the Rolls-Royce as a symbol with which to depict this contradiction.

Rennie has painted the Rolls-Royce with a camouflage pattern in bright and bold colours. Traditionally, camouflage conceals or disguises animals or objects by using a combination of materials and colouration to optically confuse the observer. Rennie’s use of camouflage amplifies, rather than conceals, his identity. With his unique pattern, which is layered with a traditional diamond pattern of the Kamilaroi people, he has made the Rolls-Royce his own.

In OA_RR Rennie drives his Rolls-Royce through Kamilaroi Country to a site near where his grandmother was born. Rennie drives the car onto a clearing of land to make temporary marks into the red earth. This ephemeral act of mark making references large engravings created by the Kamilaroi people for ceremonies.

Watch here >>

Citizenship, diversity and identity

  • Different perspectives about Australia’s national identity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, and what it means to be Australian (ACHCK066)
  • Diversity of cultural, religious and/or social groups to which they and others in the community belong, and their importance to identity. Recognising that the identity of First Nations Australians is shapes by Country/Place, language and knowledge of traditions (AC9HS4K09)

Rights and freedoms (1945 – the present)

  • Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms before 1965, including the 1938 Day of Mourning and the Stolen Generations (ACDSEH104)

Movements for Change in the 20th century: Recognition and rights of Indigenous peoples

  • The nature of government policies and their impact on Indigenous peoples, for example protection, assimilation (including the Stolen Generations), and self-determination (ACHMH072)

Reko Rennie Flowchart

  • Describe what is happening in OA_RR.
  • How does this video work make you feel? With a friend, share one reason why it makes you feel this way.
  • Rennie learnt the significance of his Kamilaroi heritage from his grandmother, who was a very important person to Rennie growing up. Who is an important figure in your family and why?
  • Rennie’s choice of a 1973 gold Rolls-Royce Corniche acts as an auto-portrait, (‘auto’ means self). What other aspects of the car tell Rennie’s story?
  • In pairs, discuss the benefits of being a multidisciplinary artist. Compare Rennie’s mural in Gallery 17 at AGSAOA_CAMO to OA_RR. Which work of art is more powerful and why? Conduct a class debate on ‘Film is a more powerful art form than public art and painting’. Use works of art by Rennie as the basis for your argument.
  • In OA_RR the Rolls-Royce was used as a symbol of wealth and power. Today, what symbols do you associate with wealth and power? Comparably, can you think of a universal symbol for compassion and tolerance?
  • Identify three symbols used in the film that signify Rennie’s Kamilaroi heritage. TIP Research Bora Rings as a starting point.

Photo: Art Gallery of South Australia; photo: Saul Steed.

  • In OA_RR, Reko Rennie returns to Kamilaroi Country. Find Kamilaroi on the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia. Investigate the Indigenous names for places in your state.
  • What shapes can you see in the pattern painted onto the car? Reko Rennie describes going back to Country as relaxing. What place do you feel most at home or relaxed?
  • Rennie’s journey to Kamilaroi Country is a long one from his home in Melbourne. What long journey have you been on before? What new or interesting things did you see on your travels?
  • Describe the soundtrack for OA_RR. What does it remind you of?
  • In Gallery 17 at AGSA, Rennie has painted a mural using a camouflage pattern. What are the similarities and differences between this design and the pattern on the car?
  • Write a film review on OA_RR. Critically analyse the film techniques used to convey meaning. eg. Angles, colour, setting, music, shot type and use of symbolism. Compare OA_RR to Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy, 1990 by Tracey Moffatt. What similarities do these films share?

Reko Rennie, Kamilaroi/Gamilaroi/Gamilaraay people, New South Wales, born Melbourne 1974, OA_RR, 2016-17, Walgett, New South Wales , 4K three channel digital video, PAL, stereo sound, 7 min, 47 seconds; Acquisition through Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art supported by BHP 2017, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Reko Rennie.

  • OA_RR is the telling of Australia’s colonial past through Rennie’s personal narrative. Research other artists who have explored stories about the experiences of Aboriginal people. What is their story?
  • Rennie’s grandmother was forcibly removed from her family when she was only seven years old. Investigate the Stolen Generations and the impact this removal had on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Consider what the day-to-day life of Rennie’s grandmother might have been like.
  • Rennie’s work addresses the dislocation and dispossession of Aboriginal people and highlights that these stories should never be forgotten. How do we currently publicly recognise or commemorate the dislocation and dispossession experienced by Aboriginal people?
  • The use of camouflage is a reoccurring motif in Rennie’s work. Research other works of art by Rennie where he has used a camouflage patterning. Using these as examples, explain how Rennie challenges us to rethink our assumptions about Australian art and identity.
  • Rennie’s background is in street art and he claims his public work in particular is always political. What makes his work political? Compare Rennie’s work to that of Richard Bell. Discuss their approaches to art making and politics.
  • Family, history and Country are very important to Rennie. Think about someone who is important to you. Create a drawing that celebrates who that person is and what they mean to you.
  • Rennie drives his car in a circular motion creating imprints in the red earth. Collect a range of objects and materials around your home or classroom. Using the objects make impressions into a bed of sand. Which object created the most interesting pattern? Document these marks by taking photographs to display in your classroom.
  • In OA_RR Rennie has used the wheels of the car to make temporary marks into the red earth, which references the ephemeral sand engravings by the Kamilaroi people. As a class brainstorm a list of materials or sites that could be used to create a temporary work of art. Create a work that will only last for a short period of time.
  • Camouflage is a means of hiding something or someone using a combination of materials and coloration. Most commonly we associate camouflage with military uniforms or an animal’s ability to disguise themselves from predators. Rennie’s use of camouflage amplifies, rather than conceals his identity. Create your own camouflage pattern that represents who you are. Like Rennie, select only three colours for your design.
  • In OA_RR Rennie uses the Rolls-Royce as his tool for making marks into the earth. Create a tool or apparatus that will make a temporary mark into a surface.
  • Create a short film about a lesser known Australian story. Consider adapting some of the filmic elements used in Rennie’s film. Collaborate with students from your music department to develop an appropriate soundtrack for your film.
OA_CAMO

Titled OA_CAMO this site-specific work incorporates Galleries 7 and 17. This work is an extension of Rennie’s Visible Invisible series which inverts the idea of camouflage. Traditionally, camouflage conceals or disguises animals or objects by using a combination of materials and colouration to optically confuse the observer. Rennie’s use of camouflage amplifies, rather than conceals, his identity. His use of luminous colours commands our attention and asserts his cultural presence in contemporary Australian art.

With his signature use of a street art aesthetic, combined with bold geometric patterning inspired by his Kamilaroi heritage, Rennie challenges us to rethink our assumptions about Australian art and identity.

Rennie is an interdisciplinary artist who explores his Aboriginal identity by combining painting, stenciling, sculpture, installation and film. He acknowledges the connections between his own background as a street artist and the traditional practice of blowing a fine mist of ochre over hands and arms to create a stenciled rock art. Instead Rennie employs contemporary techniques by using laminated paper as stencils and aerosol paint to create his striking designs.

As an urban Indigenous Australian, my work often references the hip-hop and graffiti subcultures that were influential on my artistic practice in my formative years, merging traditional Kamilaroi diamond-shaped designs, hand-drawn symbols and repetitive patterning to subvert romantic ideologies of Aboriginal identity
Reko Rennie
  • Rennie’s work is often presented on buildings or as installations in galleries. Making works of art that are large and, often, located in public spaces encourages people to think differently about certain issues. Does OA_CAMO challenge your prior knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal art? As a class discuss your responses.
  • What word would you use to describe Rennie’s installation?
  • In the Gallery you may find works of art that have been created using an airbrush (Howard Arkley) or a paintbrush (Sidney Nolan). Explain how these marks differ to the stencilling technique used by Rennie.
  • Imagine you have enlisted Reko Rennie to create an installation on the exterior of your school building. Write a letter to your school principal outlining why you think this work of art should be installed on this site. Investigate other public projects Rennie has worked on. How did the community respond to these installations? Perhaps the outcomes of these projects could provide you with evidence to support your own proposal.
  • Some animals and insects camouflage themselves helping them to blend into their environment to increase their chance of survival. List as many animals you can think of that use camouflage. Select one animal and investigate how their camouflage protects them from predators.
  • Commissioned public works of art have a relationship with site. Consider the space that Rennie’s work occupies. What might this placement suggest?
  • At an early age, Rennie was inspired by Australian artist Howard Arkley. Compare both artists’ works in terms of their formal qualities and concept. Look at other works of art near Rennie’s installation. What connections can you identify between them? Tip: Look at Riteroom, 1998 by Howard Arkley which is part of the Gallery’s permanent collection.
  • Investigate other Australian artists Nicholas Folland, Fiona Hall and eX de Medici who at some point in their careers have used camouflage as inspiration for their work. Do these artists share similar ideas? What is the symbolic meaning behind their use of camouflage and how does this differ to Rennie?
  • Before pursing art as a career Reko Rennie was a journalist for The Age in Melbourne. He has stated ‘I realised that in art I had more power than I ever did as a journalist’. Using Rennie’s works of art as evidence explain what he may have meant by this statement. Consider what power artists have and their role in society.
  • Arts lecturer and writer Vincent Alessi stated ‘Rennie’s practice is underpinned by his personal identity, Indigenous history and memory and the capacity for the visual arts to be engaged in political commentary and activism’. Discuss how OA_CAMO addresses one or more of these ideas.
  • Ivor Francis’ paintings also embody a camouflage aesthetic. Francis was affected by the war during the 1940s, resulting in works of art in which war was the subject matter. Throughout this time Francis produced a stylistic wide range of work that was highly abstracted. Although often referred to as a Surrealist, Francis categorised himself as ‘a symbolist’ instead. With reference to works of art by both Francis and Rennie, explain how both artists might be considered ‘symbolists’.
  • Rennie’s work is often temporary due to his choice of materials and location for his installations. As a class brainstorm a list of materials or sites that could be used to create a temporary work of art. Create a work that will only last for a short period of time.
  • Rennie states that ‘being an artist is all about sharing your skill with others’. Teach a skill you have to a sibling or guardian. Document this process using photography or film and share your experience with your classmates. Research other community initiatives that Rennie has been involved in.
  • Camouflage is a means of hiding something or someone using a combination of materials or coloration. Most commonly we associate camouflage with military uniforms or an animal’s ability to disguise themselves from predators. Rennie’s use of camouflage amplifies, rather than conceals his identity. Create your own camouflage pattern that represents who you are.
  • Rennie often combines a Pop Art aesthetic with the iconography of his Kamilaroi heritage. His use of the diamond patterning is linked to his cultural identity. Create your own family crest or shield using visual imagery that communicates who your family is and where they come from. Use Photoshop to repeat your pattern and create a graphic wallpaper. Print your design on large paper and create a class installation.
  • Consider a wall or building that would benefit from a site-specific work. Investigate a political, social or environmental issue you feel strongly about. Using a minimal approach like Rennie, design an installation that represents your idea or perhaps camouflage your message in some way. Mock up a final image. You may even consider approaching your school or local council to seek permission to install this design on the site it was intended.
  • Make a stencil using a patterned fabric or camouflage design. Using aerosol paint, create a pattern with an emphasis on repetition. Experiment by overlapping your stencil and using a variety of colour combinations.
  • Iconic Australian images are often used in Rennie’s work. This includes native animals, the Australian coat of arms and the 1950 postage stamp featuring Gwoya Tjungurrayi. Remembering the past and acknowledging history is also an important part to Rennie’s practice. Investigate other well-known images that are synonymous with Australian history or a significant event. Select an image and research its history in depth. Create a work of art that responds to this time in history. What symbols will you utilise to communicate your message?

More

Early Years and Primary