Early Life, Family and Training

Gordon Hookey enters the world in 1961 in Cloncurry, Queensland. He belongs to the Waanyi people, a connection that informs his perspective on the intersection of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures. His roots in Cloncurry provide the foundational lens through which he later navigates complex socio-political landscapes.

The trajectory of his formal training moves from the north to the urban centers of the coast. He pursues higher education at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he earns a Bachelor of Fine Arts. This academic grounding provides the technical framework for a practice that eventually expands into sculpture, installation, and video. Years later, he returns to advanced study, securing a Master of Visual Arts from Griffith University in 2012.

Artistic Style and Technique

Hookey operates at the interface where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures converge. His practice is defined by a divergent, activist positioning that challenges established hierarchies. He uses biting satire to target Australian culture, politics, and leadership, often skewering the integrity of the elite while bolstering the position of the marginalised. This approach manifests through a witty critique of racism and a persistent interrogation of how history is constructed. He moves between oral traditions and image-based history-making to expose the ways in which Aboriginal voices are often silenced or appropriated.

The scale of his work often matches the weight of his subject matter. He employs large-scale painting to confront viewers, sometimes utilizing ten-metre canvases to depict complex narratives. His medium is not limited to the canvas; his practice spans sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, and animation. In digital works like Terraist (2014), he uses animation to subvert colonial language, employing puns to mock the legal concept of terra nullius. He frequently utilizes video to expand his commentary beyond the static frame.

• Terraist (2014)
• Fuck off French Fried Frog Face Frick (1995)

Key Works and Major Projects

Satire drives much of the work. In the exhibition Ruddock's Wheel, Hookey targets a specific political comment made by Philip Ruddock regarding the use of the wheel by Aboriginal people. This biting critique uses humor to confront colonial narratives. The digital work Terraist (2014) continues this trajectory. It depicts an army of kangaroos, representing Indigenous people, launching a nuclear missile at Parliament House. The title functions as a pun on terra nullius, the legal concept used to justify Australian settlement, while mocking the colonial language that stripped the Waanyi people of their own tongue.

Since 2015, the focus has shifted toward MURRILAND!, a first survey show. This project involves a series of monumental paintings on ten metre canvases. These large-scale works attempt to map the history of Queensland, weaving together Aboriginal and non-Indigenous narratives from the pre-colonization era to the present day. The project draws inspiration from Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu's history of Zaire, the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, to examine how Aboriginal voices are silenced or appropriated.

Exhibitions and Professional Activity

Hookey operates from the center of a significant collective movement. As a core member of the Brisbane-based Indigenous collective proppaNOW, his professional practice is deeply intertwined with the collaborative efforts of his peers. This involvement places his work within a broader context of contemporary Indigenous activism and political critique. His presence in the art world extends to major international platforms, including an exhibition in the Sydney Biennale with Paranoia Annoy Ya.

The scale of his output often demands expansive venues. In 2022, the exhibition A Murriality moved through significant spaces, including a presentation at UNSW Galleries in Sydney. This survey of his work highlights a career defined by the intersection of art and social commentary. His profile was further solidified in 2007 when he was featured in the book Untitled. Portraits of Australian Artists.

• A Murriality (2022)
• Terraist (2014)
• Fuck off French Fried Frog Face Frick (1995)

Where to See the Works Today

The reach of Hookey’s practice extends from the local landscapes of Queensland to international institutions. In the Netherlands, his work resides within the collections of the Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht. This presence in Europe marks a significant distance from the Australian soil that informs his Waanyi perspective.

Within Australia, his pieces are held in several major national repositories. The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra maintains his work alongside other significant figures of the continent. In Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria holds his output, while the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth preserves his contributions to the contemporary canon. His presence in Brisbane is particularly anchored at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, where his visual language continues to be studied and preserved.