Tracey Moffatt facts for kids

Tracey Moffatt (born 12 November 1960) is a famous Indigenous Australian artist. She is best known for her amazing photography and video art.

In 2017, she showed her art at a big international exhibition called the Venice Biennale. Her exhibition was named "My Horizon." Her artworks are kept in important museums around the world. These include the Tate in London and the National Gallery of Australia.

Tracey Moffatt lives in Sydney, Australia. She has also lived in New York City.

Even though she is famous for photos, Moffatt has made many films and videos. Her art often explores the lives of Australian Aboriginal people. She shows how they are seen in society and culture.

Early Life and Learning

Tracey Moffatt was born in Brisbane in 1960. Her mother was Aboriginal and her father was white. When she was three, she went to live with a foster family. She grew up as the oldest of three girls in this family. She often helped take care of her foster sisters.

In 2020, Moffatt received a special award. It was an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society.

First Artworks

Tracey Moffatt's first short film was made in 1987. It was a 16-minute story about three young Aboriginal women. They were exploring Sydney's King's Cross area. The film also showed how Indigenous women faced challenges in the past. Gail Mabo acted in this film. She also danced in another of Moffatt's short films, Watch Out (1987).

In 1989, Moffatt created a famous photo series called Something More. It has six bright color photos and three black-and-white ones. This series helped Moffatt become widely known. The photos tell a mysterious story. It's about a young woman who wants more from life. She grew up in a difficult rural area.

Night Cries (1989) is one of Moffatt's most well-known films. It was inspired by an Australian film from 1955 called Jedda. Night Cries tells the story of an Aboriginal woman. She has to care for her elderly white mother.

Art in the 1990s

Moffatt's photo series Pet Thang (1991) and Laudanum (1998) explored similar ideas to Something More. They looked at themes of identity, history, and how people are shown. Other series, like Scarred for Life (1994) and Scarred for Life II (1999), also explored these themes. These works looked like photo stories from magazines. They had captions, but the words didn't fully explain the pictures. This made them even more mysterious.

As her art developed, Moffatt started using more dramatic settings. In Up in the Sky (1998), she told a story about Australia's "stolen generation." These were Indigenous Australian children who were taken from their families. The story was filmed in the Queensland outback. Like Something More, Up in the Sky deals with themes of identity and challenges. It shows a loose story in a remote, damaged town. Moffatt said about her work: 'My work is full of emotion and drama. You can get to that drama by using a narrative. My narratives are usually very simple, but I twist them.'

In 1997, Moffatt had a very important exhibition in the United States. This show helped her become famous around the world. It included works like Up in the Sky (1997) and Heaven (1997).

Art in the 2000s

In 2000, Moffatt's art was part of a big exhibition. It featured Indigenous Australian artists. The show was held at the famous Hermitage Museum in Russia. Russian art critics really liked the exhibition.

After 2000, Moffatt's art started to focus more on fame and famous people. Her series Fourth (2001) used pictures from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. It showed athletes who came in fourth place. She changed the images to highlight only the fourth-place person. This showed their "outsider" status.

In 2003, an Australian art magazine named Moffatt as one of the country's top 50 most collectible artists.

Adventure Series (2004) was a fun fantasy series. Moffatt used painted backgrounds, costumes, and models. She even appeared in some photos herself. The series looked like a TV soap opera. It showed doctors, nurses, and pilots in a tropical place. Under The Sign of Scorpio (2005) is a series of 40 images. In these, Moffatt pretends to be famous women. These women, like Moffatt, were born under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. This series shows her interest in fame and creating different characters. Moffatt's 2007 series Portraits explored the idea of "celebrity." She took photos of people she knew, like family and other artists. She made their faces look glamorous using computer technology and bright colors.

Art in the 2010s

In 2017, Tracey Moffatt was chosen to represent Australia. She showed her art at the Venice Biennale. Her exhibition was called "My Horizon." It included two videos, The White Ghosts Sailed In and Vigil. It also had two photo series, Body Remembers and Passage. "My Horizon" explored the effects of colonialism in Australia. It showed how it affected Indigenous people. This was the first time since 1997 that an Indigenous artist represented Australia at this event.

Art in the 2020s

From May to July 2022, an exhibition called Land Abounds was held. It featured art by brothers Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. It also included video works by Tracey Moffatt. The exhibition was at the Ngununggula gallery in the NSW Southern Highlands. Abdul-Rahman said that Tracey Moffatt is a very important artist to both of them. He said she helps us see how power works in society.

In 2024, Moffatt created a dramatic photo series called The Burning. It has eight images. This series was first shown in Sydney, Australia.

Film and Video Art

Tracey Moffatt has made many types of films and videos. These include short films, experimental videos, and a feature film. Her short films often use special effects and sound. They create a dream-like feeling. Early works like Night Cries used sounds that made the settings feel unreal.

She also worked with Gary Hillberg on several video montages. These include Lip (1999), Artist (2000), Love (2003), DOOMED (2007), and REVOLUTION (2008). They took clips from existing movies and TV shows. Then they re-edited them to create new, often funny, meanings. For example, Artist shows how artists are often shown in Hollywood movies. DOOMED mixes scenes of destruction from disaster movies.

Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (1989)

Night Cries uses many of Moffatt's visual styles from her photos. It has special sets, and the actors don't always act in a traditional way. It also uses sound and music to create a mood. Moffatt also includes references to Australian art history. She connects Indigenous history with how non-Indigenous artists have shown the landscape.

The film shows the history of Aboriginal people and colonization. It connects Aboriginal people with their colonizers. It touches on systems that caused harm to Aboriginal people. In the film, there are strong feelings between the characters. One is a white woman and the other is an Aboriginal woman. They play an adoptive mother and daughter.

Moffatt uses different parts of Aboriginal colonization. She shows the damage and hurtful events that happened. This reminds viewers of the past colonial history.

Bedevil (1993)

Bedevil was shown at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. It has three separate stories. They all share similar visual ideas. The images were partly inspired by Moffatt's own childhood memories.

Artist (2000)

Moffatt's Artist is a collection of clips from movies and TV shows. These clips show artists working, playing, and creating. The film shows how TV and movies often portray artists. It reflects society's sometimes funny or uninformed ideas about artists today.

REVOLUTION (2008)

This film was made for the 16th Biennale of Sydney in 2008.

Awards and Recognition

Tracey Moffatt was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001. She was also given a special honor. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016.

Filmography

• Watch Out (1987)
• Moodeitj Yorgas (1988)
• A Change of Face (1988)
• It’s Up to You (1989)
• Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (1990)
• Bedevil (1993)
• INXS: The Messenger (1993)
• Heaven (1997)
• Artist (1999)
• Lip (1999)
• Love (2003)
• DOOMED (2007)
• REVOLUTION (2008)
• Mother (2009)
• Other (2009)
• The White Ghosts Sailed In (2017)
• Vigil (2017)

See also

In Spanish: Tracey Moffatt para niños