Virginia Fraser (artist)

Last updated

Virginia Fraser was born on 28 December 1947 in Melbourne, Victoria. She was an Australian artist, writer, curator and advocate for women artists. [1] Her art practice consisted mainly of video and installation works, often made in collaboration with Destiny Deacon. [2] Fraser died on 26 January 2021, aged 74.

Contents

Education and career

Fraser completed a Bachelor of Arts (Media Arts) at Phillip Institute of Technology and a Master of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts. [3]

In the 1980s she began making Super 8 films. From the 1990s Fraser worked in photography, video and installation in collaboration with her creative and life partner, Destiny Deacon. [4]

She was a member of the City of Melbourne's Acquisitions Panel for many years and encouraged its purchase of works by First Nations artists as well as assisting with its visual arts programs. [5]

Fraser worked with curator Natalie King to compile Deacon's archive for Walk & don't look blak, an exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2004. [4] [6] She subsequently worked with the National Gallery of Victoria to prepare Deacon's retrospective DESTINY. [7]

In May 2019 Fraser and Deacon were invited to be the inaugural visiting artists/scholars at the Australian National University School of Art and Design's First Nations' First Person workshop and lecture program. [3]

Collections and notable works

Examples of Fraser's photography work, digitally remastered Super 8 films and videos created jointly with Destiny Deacon are held in the National Gallery of Australia, [8] National Gallery of Victoria, [9] Museum of Contemporary Art Australia [10] and Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. [11]

Notable works

'Snow storm', with Destiny Deacon. In 2007, Sebastian Smee when reviewing the National Indigenous Art Triennial wrote of this piece:

...there is one work in it I couldn't get out of my mind...Two plinths support glass boxes. Inside the boxes are golliwogs suspended in, and mostly obscured by, a sea of white polystyrene balls. It's a simple work, but it's scathing. On the most general level it's about framing: about how a dominant culture frames the people it has subordinated...thus modern Australia convinces itself that it is protecting its indigenous inhabitants, but just as often it suffocates them, even while maintaining a racist, sentimental image of them. [12]

Commissioned centrepiece video (title unknown) for Moomba: What's in a name? (Melbourne Town Hall, 2008). This video explores the ambiguity of the word Moomba. Fraser interviews some of Aboriginal leader Bill Onus' then surviving family members and linguists with knowledge of Indigenous languages. Although the video asks the question, it does not provide an answer. [13]

Exhibitions

Cultural warriors, National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007 (contributing artist) [12]

Making a show of it, Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, 2008 (curator) [14]

The Australian group show, Photographers Gallery, South Yarra, date unknown (with Brian Windridge, Jilian Gibb and Fiona Hall) [15]

Eye in hand, Roar Studios, Fitzroy, date unknown (with Maria Rita Barbagallo, Merilee Bennett, Linda Brassil, Ann Storm, Ruth Thompson and Jenni Viney) [16]

Selected publications

Death

Virginia Fraser died in Melbourne on 26 January 2021. [4] Announcing the news of her death, the National Gallery of Australia wrote: "we remember Virginia as one of the most rigorous and sustained advocates for women’s contributions to the cultural life of this country". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Gallery of Victoria</span> Art museum in Melbourne, Australia

The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre for Contemporary Photography</span>

The Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP), in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, is a venue for the exhibition of contemporary photo-based arts, providing a context for the enjoyment, education, understanding and appraisal of contemporary practice.

Melbourne, the capital of Victoria and the largest city in Australia, has gained international acclaim for its diverse range of street art and associated subcultures. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of the city's disaffected youth were influenced by the graffiti of New York City, which subsequently became popular in Melbourne's inner suburbs, and along suburban railway and tram lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Thompson (artist)</span> Indigenous Australian artist

Christian Andrew William Thompson, also known as Christian Bumbarra Thompson, is a contemporary Australian artist. Of Bidjara heritage on his father's side, his Aboriginal identity has played an important role in his work, which includes photography, video installations and sound recordings. After being awarded the Charlie Perkins Scholarship, to complete his doctorate in Fine Arts at Oxford University, he has spent much time in England. His work has been extensively exhibited in galleries around Australia and internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makinti Napanangka</span> Indigenous Australian artist from the Western Desert region (c. 1930 – 2011)

Makinti Napanangka was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She was referred to posthumously as Kumentje. The term Kumentje was used instead of her personal name as it is customary among many indigenous communities not to refer to deceased people by their original given names for some time after their deaths. She lived in the communities of Haasts Bluff, Papunya, and later at Kintore, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-east of the Lake MacDonald region where she was born, on the border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Rosella Namok is an Indigenous Australian artist from Lockhart River, Queensland. Namok was taught art at high school and learned printmaking and other techniques through a community art project in 1997 that led to the formation of a group of artists known as the Lockhart River Art Gang.

William Townsend Onus Jnr was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. He was father of artist Lin Onus.

Australian feminist art timeline lists exhibitions, artists, artworks and milestones that have contributed to discussion and development of feminist art in Australia. The timeline focuses on the impact of feminism on Australian contemporary art. It was initiated by Daine Singer for The View From Here: 19 Perspectives on Feminism, an exhibition and publishing project held at West Space as part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival.

Susan Fereday is an Australian artist, writer, curator and educator. She holds a doctorate from Monash University, Melbourne. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia.

Destiny Deacon HonFRPS is an Indigenous Australian photographer and media artist. She has exhibited photographs and films across Australia and also internationally, focusing on politics and exposing the disparagement around Indigenous Australian cultures. She is credited with introducing the term "Blak" to refer to Indigenous Australians' contemporary art, culture and history.

Lola Greeno is an artist, curator and arts worker of Aboriginal descent. She studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania in Launceston, finishing her degree in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Harding</span>

Eleanor Harding (1934-1996) was an Indigenous Australian from the Torres Strait Islands who worked to attain civil rights for Aboriginal Australians. She advocated for women's rights and adequate educational opportunities, as well, serving with numerous organizations to attain equality for indigenous people. In 2012, she was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll by the State of Victoria.

Natalie King is an Australian curator and writer working in Melbourne, Australia. She specializes in Australian and international programs for contemporary art and visual culture. This includes exhibitions, publications, workshops, lectures and cultural partnerships across contemporary art and indigenous culture.

Brenda L. Croft is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, writer, and educator working across contemporary Indigenous and mainstream arts and cultural sectors. Croft was a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative in 1987.

Robert Ashton (1950) is an Australian photographer and photojournalist.

Maree Clarke is a Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta, BoonWurrung/Wemba Wemba woman living in Melbourne, known for her work as a curator and artist. Clarke is a multidisciplinary artist renowned for her work in reviving South-eastern Aboriginal Australian art practices.

An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark was a 1951 Australian theatrical performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djon Mundine</span> Australian curator, writer, artist and activist

Djon Mundine is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, activist and writer. He is a member of the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales. He is known for having conceived the 1988 work Aboriginal Memorial, on display at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra.

Michael Cook is an Aboriginal Australian photographic artist of Bidjara heritage, whose work is held in major Australian galleries. He strives to promote understanding of Indigenous Australian culture and history in his work, and is the winner of two Deadly Awards.

References

  1. ↑ "Fraser, Virginia (1947–)". Trove, National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "Virginia Fraser". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Destiny Deacon & Virginia Fraser". School of Art & Design. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Fairley, Gina (5 February 2021). "Vale Virginia Fraser". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Virginia Fraser Death Notice – Melbourne, Victoria". The Age. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Destiny Deacon: Walk & don't look blak". Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "DESTINY". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Deacon, Destiny; Fraser, Virginia. "Forced into images [video]". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Artists: Virginia Fraser". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Destiny Deacon & Virginia Fraser". MCA Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Forced into images 2001". QAGOMA. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  12. 1 2 Smee, Sebastian (3 November 2007). "'Beyond the frame'". The Australian.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Sally (10 March 2008). "The bottom line". Herald-Sun.
  14. ↑ Vickery, Colin (21 July 2008). "Revue resurfaces after half a century". Herald-Sun.
  15. ↑ Invitation, Opening of The Australian group show, Photographers Gallery, South Yarra, date unknown, held in National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  16. ↑ Invitation, Opening of Eye in hand, Roar Studios, Fitzroy, date unknown, held in National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.