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Collection

An image of red tides by Judy Watson

Judy Watson

(Australia 1959– )

Language group
Waanyi, Gulf region
Title
red tides
Place of origin
Queensland → Australia
Year
1997
Media category
Painting
Materials used
pigment and pastel on canvas
Dimensions

186.0 x 120.0cm

Credit
Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 1999
Accession number
100.1999
Copyright
© Judy Watson. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney
Location
Yiribana Gallery
Further information

The title comes from newspaper reports of red algae blooms appearing in Sydney Harbour because of too much nitrogen in the water. Watson associated the deadly red blooms with whaling and the sites of Aboriginal massacres where the waters turned red with blood. The work was created for the 1997 Biennale in Venice, another water city where the 'sound of the water is everywhere, especially at high tide, you can hear the waves against the buildings, licking history away'. Her work is about 'memories washing over me', whether the tidal flow of stories from her grandmother's country in Queensland or the history of her Sydney Harbour home - the recurring wash of private and public memory.

Peter Emmett, 'Sydney: metropolis, suburb, harbour', 2000

Bibliography (8)

Peter Emmett, Sydney: metropolis, suburb, harbour 2000, 'Harbour', pg. 123-124, Glebe, 2000, 141 (colour illus.), 142.

Jennifer Isaacs, Art and Australia (Vol. 39, No. 4) Jun 2002-Aug 2002, '1970-2001: International exposure of Aboriginal art', pg. 548-557, St Leonards, Jun 2002-Aug 2002, 551 (colour illus.).

Michael Lynch and Hetti Perkins, Fluent, La Biennale di Venezia 1997 Australia 1997, Sydney, 1997, (colour illus.), 46. cat. no. 11

Hetti Perkins, Art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art 2010, 'Home + away', pg. 1-86, Carlton, 2010, 42, 43 (colour illus.), 278.

Hetti Perkins and Margie West, One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia, ‘Judy Watson in conversation’, pg. 304-309, Sydney, 2007, 308 (colour illus.).

Hetti Perkins., Contemporary Aboriginal art: The Mollie Gowing acquisition fund, 'Gifted Contemporary Aboriginal Art: The Mollie Gowing acquisition fund', Sydney, 2006, (colour illus.). not paginated

Ted Snell, sacred ground beating heart: works by Judy Watson 1989 - 2003 2003, Perth, 2003, 47 (colour illus.), 50, 68.

Jill Sykes, Look Sep 2010, 'art + soul: bringing remote cultural riches to a gallery or screen near you', pg. 28-31, Sep 2010, 30, 31 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (4)

Fluent, La Biennale di Venezia 1997, Australia:

Harbour, Museum of Sydney, Sydney, 05 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000

sacred ground beating heart: works by Judy Watson 1989 - 2002, John Curtin Gallery, Perth, 26 Sep 2003–09 Nov 2003

The Dreamers (2009-10), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 09 May 2009 -