The Fourth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

MICHAEL RILEY - THE EXTRAORDINARY MISTER RILEY (WIRADJURI) 92 The photographs from Michael Riley's work Cloud are enigmatic poems, containing allusive meanings, shot against the full colour and intense light of an Australian sky. And they are just lovely pictures ... I love these photographs .. . they are soft. I mean, the colours are soft, like chalk. And they are a mysterious riddle. A floating cow? A floating bible, or a thrown bible; the crucifix is upside down. A bird's wing, an eagle's wing, disembodied - is it dead? Or flying - against that blue Aussie sky. A feather, alone, so sharp, we can see the grain, like netting. An angel, all white with bowed head - obscured by its stone/marble wing. A boomerang, finely shaped, its cutting edge contrasts purposefully against that blue sky. A killing boomerang? A locust, a pest to farming and industry - or a spirit messenger to the earth's natural cycle. Beauty and death, a dichotomy of nature versus destruction. Can cows fly? APT2002 Michael Riley's career as an exhibiting artist spans about 18 years, beginning with the groundbreaking exhibition 'Contemporary Aboriginal Art' at the Bondi Pavilion Community Cultural Centre in 1983. This exhibition was important in that it brought together Indigenous artists who were working in photography. Since that time, Riley has extended his practice to work as a director of film, video and television. He has directed over 15 films and videos including the stunning Empire 1997, which is also included in this exhibition. Michael Riley as an artist is also an enigma. He is an artist who works in photography - is also an Aborigine - is an Aborigine who is also a director of films - is a director who also works with sound, image, music. He is aWiradjuri man, a father, father-in-law, grandfather - who works as an artist, and lives in Sydney. On a recent road-trip I drove through Riley's ancestral country, where the traditional custodians are the Wiradjuri people. Along the way, we counted 15 road-kills. 1 We counted mostly 'roos: kangaroos and wallabies. In Wiradjuri country one finds the large red kangaroo and the smaller red-necked wallaby and swamp wallaby. We also counted smaller furry and feathered things squashed beyond identification. I am reminded here of Michael's earlier photographs in his 'Flyblown' series exhibited at the 1999 Venice Biennale. Michael's home town of Dubbo is in the central western area of New South Wales, only about four hours' drive from the cosmopolitan state capital of Sydney. Dubbo today has grown to resemble a small city, but it is one of the less exotic tourist destinations in Australia. It is a major truck stop where two main highways {the Newell and Mitchell) intersect, and big, bright, shiny petrol service-stations or 'servos' take up half an old town block. Country and Western music plays on the local radio, and converges with ... well, more Country and Western music. 'Yee-hah !' Known as the Central Western Plains region, Wiradjuri country is an area of undulating hills and broad valleys, creeks and fertile grasslands - cattle country. For some 50 000 years the Wiradjuri nation inhabited this very fertile area west of the Great Dividing Range, covering approximately 600 000 square kilometres . The size, position and natural wealth of Wiradjuri country meant that its people have played a major role in Indigenous affairs for the past 200 years, since the coming of early invading forces and European settlement. Michael Riley Wiradjuri/Gamilaroi people Australia b.1960 Empire 1997 Six stills from 18 min. 35mm film transferred to DVD, sound Composer: Andrew Partos Courtesy: Indigenous Programs Unit, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney