South Sydney Uniting Church, where I was a regular from 2005-2010, doubles as an art gallery. In July 2009 the artist on show was Gordon Syron.
Sunday Floating Life photo 25: Gordon Syron at South Sydney Uniting Church
There is currently an exhibition of Indigenous artist Gordon Syron at South Sydney Uniting Church.
Gordon does not paint dots. “My strength in painting is political”, says Syron. “I use satire and raw imagery to send a message that Australian History has left out the Aboriginal people and their stories. Art is a way to convey and tell these stories. By turning around the picture – for instance to dress Aboriginal people in Redcoats and black boots and have white people standing naked holding spears on the shore when the first fleet arrived, as in my painting The Black Bastards Are Coming, it makes people understand and comprehend history in a different way.”…
More paintings by Gordon Syron — 1
See Sunday Floating Life photo 25: Gordon Syron at South Sydney Uniting Church (above).
More paintings by Gordon Syron 2
Some more from the exhibition currently in South Sydney Uniting Church.
See also A History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the Defence of Australia.
Gordon Syron spoke to the Serving Our Country project about his family’s history of service. Three of his uncles served during the First World War with one killed in France. Two of Gordon’s brothers fought in the Second World War, and another served in the Navy during the Korean War aboard HMAS Condamine. Other family members served in other conflicts involving Australia including the Vietnam War. Gordon touches only lightly on the details of these men’s service, but does link their experiences as soldiers in war with his own experiences with land issues regarding his family’s farm, his time in prison and his experiences as a boxer, all of which he does discuss in the interview. The presentation of war in Gordon’s artwork is also linked to his uncle’s and brother’s service.
Neil's Commonplace Book 