Judy Watson & Helen Johnson

the red thread of history, loose ends

The Balnaves Contemporary Series
19 Feb – 5 Jun 2022
Colourful and washed out colonial figures fill the scene, holding flags, gesticulating - they are transposed over a map. There is a small black and white figure of a thief making a getaway with his sack in the bottom right hand corner.

Helen Johnson, A feast of reason and a flow of soul, 2016, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Tate, with support from the Qantas Foundation in 2015, purchased 2018, courtesy the artist.

‘It is that idea of breaking through and peeling back ignorance, looking at concealed history, at what lies beneath the ground; bringing that up to the viewer.’ 

Judy Watson, Waanyi people

About

A work on paper, a map outline of Queensland with the outline of the profile of a woman's head overlayed

Judy Watson, Waanyi people, joyce with queensland tenure map, 2021, Commissioned as part of The Balnaves Contemporary Series, © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency

Work by two of Australia’s leading artists – Judy Watson and Helen Johnson – will be presented in conversation as part of The Balnaves Contemporary Series.

Watson, a Waanyi woman, based on Jagera/Yuggera and Turrbal Country of Meanjin/Brisbane and Johnson, a second-generation immigrant of Anglo descent based in Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country in Naarm/Melbourne, have each developed new works that explore complex and varied perspectives on colonisation, with an emphasis on the experience of women. This conversation will be reflected by Watson and Johnson’s individual and Ancestral cultural experiences living in Australia.

Judy Watson & Helen Johnson: the red thread of history, loose ends is a Know My Name project and part of The Balnaves Contemporary Series.

Curators:  Jaklyn Babington, formerly Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, Tina Baum, Gulumirrgin (Larrakia)/Wardaman/Karajarri peoples, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and Elspeth Pitt, Curator, Australian Art.

Supported by

Touring Dates & Venues

2022

  • Monash University Museum of Art Caulfield, VIC
    10 September – 12 November 2022

Stories & Ideas

Two women sit on a timber bench, within a gallery space, surrounded by paintings and work of art suspended from the ceiling and walls

Two artists, two generations, two perspectives: Judy Watson, Waanyi people, and Helen Johnson have forged a dialogue on the roles of women in contemporary and colonial Australia, presented as part of The Balnaves Contemporary Series at the National Gallery.

By Tina Baum

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