After presenting the series Equinox and showing at Arte Fiera in Bologna, Christian Thompson is thrilled to announce ongoing representation with Galleria Marcolini, Forli, Italy. Thompson is interested in the performative, and his works frequently present him adopting various personas created with costumes, adornments and disguises derived from history and tradition. In January 2015, Oxford's Trinity College took down the old paintings in its dining room for the first time in over 400 years to display an exhibition of Thompson's work. His work deals with the nature of identity as an ever-evolving and uncharted terrain, bringing together a variety of seemingly disparate forms and themes. As if wearing a hoodie of down, the man's body and head are covered with light feathering; even the face is painted white. The portrait is complimented by an article by Laura Tingle. Christian is looking forward to the exciting critical and academic context that Galleria Marcolini brings to the work, and the opportunity to share this with Italian audiences. Christian Thompson’s photographs arise from the underlying performative nature of the artist’s practice. [15] It was included in the TarraWarra Biennial in Melbourne[16] as well as the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University in 2012, as part of the photographic series, We Bury Our Own. [3] Many of his family members were creative artists, so he "grew up surrounded by creative people". Invaded Dreams 2012. He also has English, Irish, Norwegian and Sephardic Jewishancestry. Christian Thompson’s series Australian Graffiti—from which this work originates—comprises portraits of the artist wearing headdresses of Australian flora.Thompson’s photography extends the history of portraiture to foreground Indigenous cultural identity, kinship and connections to Country; and personal issues concerning masculinity, sexuality, and the erosion of difference in … Subscribers can view the full article and portraits online HERE. Dr CHRISTIAN THOMPSON AO is an Australian born contemporary artist whose work explores notions of identity, cultural hybridity & history. WALLPOWER: Significant Contemporary Australian Photography & Photomedia, Michael Reid, Sydney. Othering the art critic, John Ruskin Christian Thompson Othering the anthropologist, Walter Baldwin Spencer Christian Thompson Othering the ethnologist, Augustus Pitt Rivers Christian Thompson Othering the explorer, James Cook Christian Thompson Equilibrium Christian Thompson Untitled (Marcia Langton) Christian Thompson Black gum 3 Christian Thompson Black gum 2 Christian Thompson … It was mounted at ACMI in May 2019, titled Bayi Gardiya (Singing Desert). He was one of the first two Indigenous Australians to attend Oxford. [4], Thompson had an itinerant childhood, following his father's career in the RAAF,[5] and lived in Darwin, Wagga Wagga, Raymond Terrace, Toowoomba, and Adelaide, along with his three brothers. He grew up immersed in music and culture of the 1980s and '90s and identified strongly with punk music. [6], While studying at Toowoomba and Melbourne, Thompson was heavily inspired by Fluxus artists George Maciunas and Yoko Ono, as well Andy Warhol and many others. Christian Thompson is currently in the world premiere of Ain't Too Proud: The Life And Times of The Temptations, as … SOURCE . As his mother's family was from Bampton, Oxfordshire,[8] he also grew up surrounded by British television shows, and he looked to England rather than the United States, as many young people of his age did. Thompson went on to study performing arts in Amsterdam and achieved his Doctorate of Philosophy (Fine Art), from Oxford University in 2015. Christian Thompson, Bidjara People, The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8), Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. This work was produced while Thompson was an artist in residence at the Australia Council for the Arts Greene Street Studio in Manhattan. [13] curated by Sarah Tutton and Charlotte Day. As Fiona Foley has pointed out, there is an old tendency 3 Christian Thompson, ‘Australian Indigenous Art Triennial: Culture Warriors’ (artist state- 15 See Giorgio Agamben Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and The Archive, trans. Howl Your Troubles is part of Thompson's self-portrait series Native Instinct. View the profiles of people named Christian Thompson. Post-race, breathless and dripping, he watched confused as event officials distributed cards to three other competitors indicating their respective first, second and third place. He was born in Gawler, South Australia, and is of Bidjara (indigenous peple of South West Queensland) and British heritage. He undertook his first major public art project through the Future Arts Research program at the Arizona State University,[10] Dartmouth College, and Massey University International Art Residency, Wellington, New Zealand. Christian Thompson. [9], Thompson established himself in 2002 in the Australian art world with his first series, Blaks Palace, a series of photographs and giant oversized sweaters. Thompson was also shortlisted and highly commended for the Kate Challis RAKA Award and in 2011 for the Blake Prize and the Basil Sellers Art Prize. Formally trained as a sculptor, Thompson’s multidisciplinary practice engages mediums such as photography, video, sculpture, performance & … Like the article, Thompson's portrait of Shorten capture a serious, more contemplative side to the leader of the opposition as the 2019 federal election approaches. Christian Thompson The devil made him do it Shown in 3 exhibitions Exhibition history Nothing is true, everything is permitted, Chalk Horse, Darlinghurst, 07 Jul 2011–13 Aug 2011. His mother’s family are from Gundagai in New South Wales. Christian himself made history when he became the first Aboriginal Australian to be admitted into the University of Oxford in its 900-year legacy. Dr Christian Thompson, AO, is a leading contemporary artist who explores notions of identity, cultural hybridity and history. About the Artist: Dr Christian Thompson was born in 1978, in Gawler, South Australia. His work was included in the 17th International Biennale of Sydney The Beauty of Distance - Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age, curated by David Elliot,[citation needed] and the 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art Before and After Science. [14], His 2011 video work Dhagunyilangu, meaning brother, employs a British male opera singer to interpret the song written in Bidjara, one of many Aboriginal languages which have been lost during colonisation. In addition to the sound work, two new photographs by Thompson feature at Samstag. 2014 In the seven-minute installation, Thompson sings in the Bidjara language, which had been lost but is being revived. [1] He also has English, Irish, Norwegian and Sephardic Jewish ancestry. Australian artist Christian Thompson says education and a mixed heritage enable him to slide between cultures. In 2010 he transferred to the Ruskin School of Art[7][5] at the University of Oxford, after being awarded the Charlie Perkins Scholarship, to complete his doctorate (Doctorate of Philosophy (Fine Art)[7]}. Nov 7, 2014 - Explore Jackie Fernandez's board "Christian Thompson" on Pinterest. Christian Thomson is a photographic and performance artist from the central Queensland Bidjara heritage in Australia. One of Australia’s preeminent contemporary artists, Christian Thompson… [citation needed], His series of photographs Lost Together was made in the Netherlands where Thompson undertook a residency program at DasArts developing his live performance work which brought together his Bidjara and European heritage, combining classical music, traditional rhythms and lyrical narratives into richly textured, lilting and evocative arrangements. The video work titled Refuge is part of a larger series of works titled Eight Limbs shown at the Te Whare Hera Gallery, Wellington, in 2014. Thompson has arranged the flowers and leaves into intricate headbands that partially or fully cover his eyes from the viewer. He was the first Aboriginal studio artist at Gertrude Street Contemporary Art Spaces 2006–2007,[11] Melbourne. Christian Andrew William Thompson AO (born 1978), also known as Christian Bumbarra Thompson, is a contemporary Australian artist. Christian Thompson in The National Self Portrait Prize, University of Queensland Australia, Brisbane. [3], He moved to London some time after his time at Oxford. Thompson's most notable works include his series Emotional Striptease, The Gates of Tambo and more recently his series Australian Graffiti, which are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales and AAMU in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Embodiment, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 Dec 2014–22 Mar 2015. Dr Christian Thompson is an Australian - born London based internationally acclaimed artist whose work explores issues of identity, cultural hybridity and history. Visual arts review: This ghost of a bird-man is artist Christian Thompson An alien figure in white feathers stares at us from an inky background. He is of Bidjara (an Aboriginal Australian people of central southwestern Queensland) heritage on his father's side, of the Kunja (Gunya) language group. He is a Bidjara man of the Kunja Nation from central western Queensland and is also of German-Jewish heritage. Christian Thompson is a photographer, performance and conceptual artist whose largely biographical practice is infused with wit, irony and humour. He undertook a curatorial internship at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and was on the curatorial group for shows Contemporary Commonwealth at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Christian Thompson is pleased to present works in Oracles, at Te Whare Toi, City Gallery Wellington in Aotearoa New Zealand. His work has been extensively exhibited in galleries around Australia and internationally. Christian Thompson received a BA in Fine Art from the University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane, before a Masters in Fine Art from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2004. [20], This article is about the Australian artist. Christian Thompson. The work a tribute to his great-great-grandfather, King Billy of Bonnie Doon Lorne. Christian Thompson, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 26 Sep 2015–15 Nov 2015 For other people with the same name, see, William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia), "Exhibition charts Christian Thompson's ongoing wanderlust", "Christian Thompson interview: 'My work does not need to be read through the optical lens of my race, "RMIT alumni receive Queen's Birthday honours", "Christian Thompson - University of Oxford", "F.A.R. It is with great pleasure that Christian Thompson accepted an invitation to photograph Bill Shorten for the cover of The Monthly. The consummate performer, it is difficult to separate Thompson from his work as he explores what it means to be Indigenous today and the relationships that exist between objects, space and history. b. [citation needed], In 2009 he completed a Masters of Theatre degree at the DasArts, part of the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Exhibiting alongside Pati Solomona Tyrell, Oracles is a multidisciplinary "channeling of historical spirits and their consequences through masquerade.". Christian Thompson’s series Australian Graffiti involves staged images of the artist wearing Australian flora as a headdress.