Lucas Grogan: Black + Blue

Overview

Lucas Grogan is a white artist who paints pictures that people assume are by an Aboriginal man. He adopts cross-hatching styles employed by artists from Arnhem Land and depicts stylised figures on irregular, bark-shaped boards.

His intent is not to bastardize Indigenous artistic and cultural expression. Though his work has caused considerable uproar in the sanitised art scene, Grogan is "acutely aware of the hypocrisies of Australia's current cultural modalities". He believes that through incorporating elements derived from Indigenous cultural heritage, artists engage with the traditional custodians of this land and, in doing so, enhance cross-cultural understanding.

Iain Dawson Gallery in Paddington is Sydney’s newest contemporary art gallery and committed to showcasing artists who provoke public thought, feeling and debate. Grogan certainly does all three, and his new show, Black + Blue, will impassion gallery-goers until March 6.