Brendan Kelly
b.1970- Ryde, NSW, lives & works in Mullumbimby, NSWFading Icon, 2021
signed lower right
Acrylic, graphite & photo collage on plywood
122 x 122cm
For many years following the Kelly Outbreak, the Glenrowan Siege, and the execution of Ned Kelly in 1880, Australians as a whole were not in favour of Ned. The late...
For many years following the Kelly Outbreak, the Glenrowan Siege, and the execution of Ned Kelly in 1880, Australians as a whole were not in favour of Ned.
The late 40’s saw a shift in public opinion with Sidney Nolans’ now famous Ned Kelly paintings making Ned more palatable, portraying him as a comical knight in shining gloss black modernist armour wandering through expansive landscapes with romanticized imagery.
By the new millennium Australians were celebrating Kelly as a National Icon at the Opening Ceremony of The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, a complete turnaround in opinion having taken 120 years to achieve.
But is Ned Kelly’s popularity fading? Does a contemporary multicultural Australian society still relate to, or even know about Ned Kelly?
Do we still need to seek national heroes, icons or something to call the Australian spirit?
Many would argue that we’ve had an Australian spirit for well over 50,000 years.
The late 40’s saw a shift in public opinion with Sidney Nolans’ now famous Ned Kelly paintings making Ned more palatable, portraying him as a comical knight in shining gloss black modernist armour wandering through expansive landscapes with romanticized imagery.
By the new millennium Australians were celebrating Kelly as a National Icon at the Opening Ceremony of The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, a complete turnaround in opinion having taken 120 years to achieve.
But is Ned Kelly’s popularity fading? Does a contemporary multicultural Australian society still relate to, or even know about Ned Kelly?
Do we still need to seek national heroes, icons or something to call the Australian spirit?
Many would argue that we’ve had an Australian spirit for well over 50,000 years.