Popular Australian gallery Ames Yavuz has announced their Sydney venue will showcase new works by renowned Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie in a new exhibition.
New Zealand-born, Vienna-based artist André Hemer will also showcase a new pieces of work in his own solo exhibition alongside Rennie. In this new exhibition, interdisciplinary artist Reko Rennie presents Urban Rite at the Commonwealth Street space from 17 October – 9 November.
Featuring a suite of new abstract figurative paintings that see a fresh direction for Rennie, the exhibition expands upon his pursuits into reclaiming Indigenous ownership over space and place within the urban landscape.
Marking his first exhibition with Ames Yavuz and coinciding with a major survey exhibition - REKOSPECTIVE, at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne - Rennie's solo exhibition in Sydney challenges perceptions of our environment, confronting the intersections between Indigenous identity, contemporary society, and the built environment.
Rennie explores his Aboriginal identity through contemporary media, provoking discussion surrounding Indigenous culture and identity in contemporary urban environments through his work. Largely autobiographical, his works fuse the iconography of his Kamilaroi heritage with stylistic elements of graffiti, informed by his youth as a Melbourne-based graffiti artist, and traditions of painting.
Since then, the artist has exhibited across a variety of locations including Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe. His work is also held in major collections including Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Western Australia, University of Virginia, USA, and the New Contemporary Art Museum, China.
Ames Yavuz managing director Owen Craven said it is an exciting time for the gallery and he is thrilled to showcase new works by Rennie.
"It's incredibly exciting to present these two sensational exhibitions across our neighbouring galleries. Reko Rennie's bold new body of work marks a fresh chapter in his practice," he said.
"Perfectly timed alongside his major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria, these works will undoubtedly captivate audiences."
An artist who explores his Aboriginal identity through contemporary media, Rennie provokes discussion surrounding Indigenous culture and identity in contemporary urban environments through his art.
In 2023, Rennie was awarded the Mordant Family-Australia Council Affiliated Fellowship and undertook a residency at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. He has also been awarded significant commissions, including the sixth Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia (2023), the landmark public artwork Where Eels Lie Down in Parramatta (2023), and the Artbank + ACMI Commission, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (2019).
With this exhibition marking Rennie's debut at Ames Yavuz, it is yet another exciting first for the talented artist.
Representing a wide range of multidisciplinary artists across continents, Ames Yavuz embraces its diverse cultural background through a strong international focus and perspective. The gallery's vision is underpinned by robust curatorial practices that form the core of our program and foster intercultural discourse on a global scale.
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