Michael Riley (artist) facts for kids

Michael Riley (born 1960, died 2004) was an amazing Aboriginal Australian photographer and filmmaker. He also helped start the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. Michael Riley was a very important artist in modern Aboriginal Australian art, and his work is kept in many big art galleries, like the National Gallery of Australia.

Early Life and Learning

Michael Riley was born on January 6, 1960, in Dubbo, a town in New South Wales, Australia. His parents were Allen and Dorothy Riley. He spent his early years on the Talbragar Aboriginal Reserve with his parents and his siblings, David, Wendy, and Carol. His mother grew up on an Aboriginal mission in Moree.

In 1976, Michael moved to Sydney. He started learning photography at the Tin Sheds at the University of Sydney. Later, he worked as a technician in the photography department at the Sydney College of the Arts, where he kept studying.

A Creative Career

In 1986, Michael's photographs were shown in the very first exhibition of Indigenous photography. This show was at the Aboriginal Artists Gallery in Sydney. In the same year, he and nine other artists in Sydney started the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. This cooperative was a place for Aboriginal artists to show their work.

While working at Boomalli, Michael also worked at Film Australia. He made his first two documentary films there. These were Boomalli: Five Artists (1988) and Dreamings (1988). Dreamings was made to go with an exhibition of Aboriginal art in New York City.

Portraits of Moree

In 1990, Michael created a special series of photographs called A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries. These photos showed people from the two missions in his mother's hometown of Moree. Many of the people in the photos were Michael's relatives. He set up an outdoor studio in Moree and invited people from the community to be photographed.

This exhibition was first shown in Sydney. Then, it traveled to London, England, in 1991. The large prints from this exhibition were given to the Moree Plains Gallery (now called BAMM: Bank Art Museum Moree). The State Library of New South Wales has digital copies of these photographs. In 2016, the State Library held an exhibition of these photos.

Films and Art Installations

In 1996, the Museum of Sydney asked Michael to create a permanent video artwork called Eora. This artwork celebrates the Eora people of the Sydney region.

His film Empire (1997) explores how environmental damage can be like the impact of colonisation on his culture. It shows how new ways of life can change older traditions.

Artistic Themes

Michael Riley's photographs cover many different topics. He often focused on portraits, which are pictures of people. He also created symbolic and sometimes surreal images. His parents went to church, and Michael used ideas from his religious experiences in his art. This can be seen in projects like Fly Blown (1998) and his digital art series Cloud (2000).

Many of Michael's photos and films explore what it means to be Indigenous. They look at Indigenous experiences and politics. Some of these works include Malangi: A day in the life of a bark painter (1991), Poison (1991), Blacktracker (1996), and Tent Boxers (2000).

Recognized Works

Michael Riley's art was chosen for a special project at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris in 2006. He was one of eight Australian Indigenous artists whose work was featured there.

His first digital art series, Cloud (2000), was shown at several important art events. These included Photograhica Australis in Spain, the Fourth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, and the 2003 Festival of Sydney.

In 2016, his work was part of an exhibition at Carriageworks in Redfern. This exhibition celebrated the 40th anniversary of NAISDA, a famous dance college. The exhibition was called Naya Wa Yugali, which means "We Dance" in the Darkinjung language.

Collections

Michael Riley's artworks are held in many important collections, including:

Selected Films

Here are some of the films Michael Riley made: