Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett was one of Australia's most significant and critically engaged contemporary artists, whose bold, intellectually rigorous work challenged racial stereotypes and provoked critical reflection on national identity and official history. Born in Monto, Queensland, Bennett lived and worked in Brisbane until his unexpected death in 2014. His practice addressed the role of language and systems of thought in forging identity, rejecting simplistic categorisation as an Indigenous artist. In the late 1990s, Bennett created an ongoing pop art-inspired alter ego, John Citizen—"an abstraction of the Australian Mr Average, the Australian Everyman"—allowing him greater freedom to explore complex cultural terrain. His work engaged in dialogue with artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, sharing obsessions with drawing, semiotics, and visual language rooted in Western cultural traditions. Bennett's paintings, installations, and multimedia works employed appropriation, text, and striking visual juxtapositions to expose the violence embedded in colonial histories and contemporary racism. His influence extends internationally, with works held in major collections and exhibitions worldwide, establishing him as a pivotal figure who expanded possibilities for addressing Indigenous experience, identity politics, and postcolonial critique through contemporary art.

Need to define the interactive map functionality, we can add lat/long values as custom fields TBD.

Gordon Bennett

Country

Works Available

Relevant Exhibitions

Register Interest

Enquire