Virginia Coventry facts for kids

Virginia Coventry (born in 1942) is an Australian photographer. She is known for her powerful pictures that often show important topics like protecting the environment, especially against things like the nuclear power industry. She also photographs how land is used in Australia. Virginia Coventry was also the main editor for a book called Critical Distance: Work with Photography/Politics/Writing.

Becoming an Artist: Early Life and Education

Virginia Coventry started her journey in art by studying painting. She went to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) from 1960 to 1964. After that, she continued her studies in London at the Slade School of Fine Art, finishing in 1968.

Virginia Coventry's Art Projects and Themes

For over 40 years, Virginia Coventry's art has explored similar ideas. She looks at how art uses space and color, and she uses many different ways to create her art, like paintings, collages, drawings, and photography.

Her artworks often explore personal feelings through abstract art, which uses shapes and colors instead of realistic images. When it comes to color, Coventry uses a special idea from music, calling it "acoustic." She connects colors in her paintings to musical ideas like pitches and tones, almost like you can "hear" the colors.

You can clearly see how Coventry explores space in her photography and painting projects from the 1970s. For her photography, she made very large displays to make the pictures feel real and to highlight what was important in them. For her abstract paintings, she also used huge artworks to change how people saw the space, light, and colors.

"Here and There": Looking at Nuclear Power (1977–1978)

One of Virginia Coventry's important projects was called Here and There: Concerning the Nuclear Power Industry. This was a large display on a wall. It included photocopies of newspaper articles, photographs printed on special paper, and notes written by hand.

The wall display was about four meters long, which is as tall as an average person. Coventry made it this size so that people could easily read all the texts. The photographs in the display were like documentary photos, showing what could be seen "from outside the fence" of nuclear sites. Coventry wanted to share an environmental message without it being a simple "good vs. bad" story. She did this by showing both beautiful nature and the effects of technology.

To make her message stronger, Coventry used photos that had already been published. This made people feel like they were looking at their own reality, making the message more meaningful because they could relate to it.

What made this artwork special was how Coventry put it all together. Many of the photos were taken by other people, and she collected and arranged them. The display included newspaper clippings, photos of nuclear power plants, and her own handwritten notes. These notes, placed next to the newspaper articles, often disagreed with what the newspapers said. Coventry did this to create a "juxtaposition," showing different points of view side-by-side. This artwork was bought in 1980.

"Whyalla - Not a Document": Land and Industry (1977–1981)

Another project was Whyalla - Not a Document. This was a seven-part art installation. It used photographs taken by Coventry, printed on special paper and displayed on cardboard panels and in clear frames. The idea behind these photos was to show how people see landscapes, especially how land can be changed or damaged by big industries.

The project criticized how land was being misused and how industrial activities affected the surrounding areas, creating new shapes and changes in the landscape. The title "Not a document" meant that the photos were not just simple pictures. Instead, they were meant to be seen as "facts" that showed the real issues. Through this work, Coventry explored how photographs can truly represent the problems they are trying to show. This artwork was purchased in 1984.

"Critical Distance": Photography, Politics, and Writing

Critical Distance: Work with Photography/Politics/Writing is a book that collects many of Virginia Coventry's photography projects. These projects focus on important environmental and political issues in Australia. The title "Critical Distance" has two meanings:

• "Distance" refers to the relationship between the people looking at the photos and the photos themselves.
• "Critical" refers to how accurately people can understand and judge the issues being discussed.

Coventry's project "Here and There: Concerning the Nuclear Power Industry" is featured in this book, showing a detailed view of the display. The book was mentioned by Anne-Marie Willis in her book Picturing Australia: A History of Photography. Willis talked about how photography has become a "self-conscious activity" as an art form. She also described other books, like Working Papers on Photography and Halide, as important examples for discussing photography themes in the 1980s.

Awards and Recognitions

Virginia Coventry's art has been shown in many public and private collections, as well as museums, over the years. Her works have been displayed not only in Australia but also in England, North America, and New Zealand.

In Australia, her art has been featured in galleries and universities from 1978 up until 2009. Some of these places include the Australian National University, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and the Ian Potter Museum of Art.

Virginia Coventry received the Cité internationale des arts Paris Studio award in 1999. She was also a finalist for the Sir John Sulman Prize three times: in 2004, 2008, and 2009. Both of these honors were given by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.