Brisbane-based artist Ryan Presley has produced new work as part of his ongoing project, Blood Money (2010–present), which deals with representation and exchange. In his richly layered watercolour paintings, he reimagines our figureheads on Australian banknotes as the heroes and warriors of Aboriginal history, including Pemulwuy, Dundalli, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Alongside these paintings, Presley is staging a participatory currency exchange where visitors are invited to exchange Australian dollars (AUD) for printed Blood Money currency (BMD). The exhibition is curated by IMA’s Assistant Director Madeleine King.
Biography
Presley’s work has been included in Trade Markings, Van Abbemuseum (2018); the 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Darwin; Frontier Imaginaries, IMA, Brisbane; 2016 TarraWarra Biennial: Endless Circulation (all 2016). Prosperity, and its accompanying publication, will be restaged at Melbourne Art Week in August 2018
Image: Ryan Presley, Blood Money, 2018. Series of four limited-edition prints. Photograph: Louis Lim.
