‘It is impossible to ignore the deep human needs that propel this artist into creative action’ – ARTSHub reviews Vincent Namatjira’s first survey exhibition

24 Oct 2023

ArtsHub’s arts feature writer Jo Pickup rates Namatjira’s first survey exhibition Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour 4.5/5 stars!

“Namatjira’s brightly coloured, often amusing, works are in fact full of biting messages that point to the injustices experienced by individuals and by whole generations of First Peoples that have curtailed the kinds of human needs that many take for granted.

The exhibition reverberates in energy, colour and magnetism, and its curatorial choices harness those forces to bring us closer to some difficult truths that inform the story of how Australia has been built as a nation.”

Image: Installation view of Vincent Namatjira’s portrait works in Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Adelaide. Photographed by Saul Steed. Courtesy of Iwantja Arts and AGSA