Judy Watson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Judy Watson
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Sculpture Fire and Water (2007) by Judy Watson at Reconciliation Place in Canberra.
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| Born | 1959 |
| Nationality | Australian |
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| Known for | Print-making, painting, installation |
| Movement | Contemporary Indigenous Australian art |
Judy Watson (born 1959) is an amazing Australian artist. She is from the Waanyi people. She creates art using many different methods like print-making, painting, video, and art installations. Her art often explores the history of Indigenous Australians. She has also been asked to create many important artworks for public places.
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Early Life and Education
Judy Watson was born in Mundubbera, Queensland in 1959. She is a Waanyi artist who lives in Brisbane. She studied art at several universities.
She earned a diploma in Creative Arts in 1979. Later, she received a bachelor's degree from the University of Tasmania. There, she learned many art techniques. One important technique was lithography, which is a type of print-making. This skill has influenced all her artwork. She also completed a graduate diploma at Monash University in 1986.
Judy Watson's Art Career
Watson first trained as a print-maker. Her paintings, videos, and installations often use layers. These layers help to show how different ideas or realities can exist at the same time. As an Aboriginal Australian artist, showing the land is very important in her work.
In 1995, she won the Moët & Chandon Fellowship. This award allowed her to travel to France. She later had an art show there. In 1997, she represented Australia at the Venice Biennale. This is a very famous international art exhibition. She showed her work alongside other great artists, Yvonne Koolmatrie and Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
In 2005, Judy Watson created a special artwork for the Musée du quai Branly in France. This museum was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. She worked with other important Aboriginal artists on this project. A film called The French Connection was made about their work.
In 2008, Watson worked with artist Yhonnie Scarce. They created art to remember Judy's great-great-grandmother, Rosie. Rosie had escaped from a cattle station in Queensland. For this artwork, the artists made 40 pairs of ears from volunteers. They then attached them to a wall. This piece honored those who suffered and showed strength.
Judy Watson's art often has strong political messages. However, it is usually not bossy or preachy. She explains her view on political art: "Art can be a way to create new ideas and social change. It can be gentle or strong. It can be direct or subtle."
The City of Sydney asked her to create a large public artwork. This was for their Eora Journey arts program. The sculpture is called bara. It will be placed in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney in 2020. The artwork looks like bara, which are fish hooks. Women from the local Eora people have made these hooks for thousands of years.
Art Themes and Meanings
A book about Watson's art, called blood language (2009), divides her work into several themes. These include water, skin, poison, dust and blood, ochre, bones, and driftnet. This list shows how she uses natural and cultural ideas in her art.
Watson's recent art often looks at historical records. She explores the histories of Indigenous Australians. For example, her series a preponderance of aboriginal blood (2005) was made for the State Library of Queensland. It celebrated 100 years of women being able to vote in Queensland. It also marked 40 years since Aboriginal people gained the right to vote.
This artwork uses old documents from the Queensland State Archives. These documents show how Aboriginal people were stopped from voting. Before 1965, if you could vote depended on your "percentage of Aboriginal blood." This is why Watson chose that title for her art series. The famous Tate Modern museum in London recently bought this series.
Another series of six engravings is called the holes in the land (2015). This art is about the loss of Aboriginal cultural items. Many of these items were taken from their lands. Four of the six images show Aboriginal cultural objects that are now kept in the British Museum. The title highlights the harm done to the land. It shows the empty spaces or scars left behind when these items were removed.
Major Exhibitions
Judy Watson's art has been shown in many important exhibitions around the world.
- 2024: mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson, QAGOMA, Brisbane.
- 2020–2021: Looking Glass: Judy Watson and Yhonnie Scarce. This show traveled from the Ikon Gallery in England to the TarraWarra Museum of Art in Australia.
- 1997: Venice Biennale, Italy.
- 1995: Antipodean Currents: Ten Contemporary Artists from Australia, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA.
- 1993: First Asia-Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia.
Art in Public Collections
Judy Watson's artworks are held in many major art collections. This means her art is important and preserved for everyone to see.
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- Tate Modern, London, UK
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
Awards and Recognition
Judy Watson has received several important awards for her art.
- 1995: Moet and Chandon Fellowship
- 2006: National Gallery of Victoria's Clemenger Art Award
- 2006: Works on Paper Award at the 23rd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards
Legacy
In 2011, Judy Watson shared her story in a digital interview. This was for the State Library of Queensland's James C Sourris AM Collection. In the interview, Watson talks about how she makes her art. She also discusses her family and the future of Aboriginal art in Australia.
