The Commercial | Michael Riley news

» 10/10/2024: Nigel Milsom and Michael Riley are exhibiting at Maitland Art Gallery in the exhibition Twitcher. 12.10.24 — 16.02.24.
» 18/09/2024: Works by Matthew Harris, Stephen Ralph and Michael Riley are included in Hold the world to its word at Murray Art Museum Albury. Curated by Michael Moran, the exhibition “recognises the notion of an inherently good and just world is a fragile one. That faith in promises held personally and collectively is easily eroded.” The exhibition includes works by Hoda Afshar, Matthew Harris, Spence Messih, Stephen Ralph, Sandra Selig, and what, alongside the collective et al., and works by Michael Riley and Susan Hiller. Exhibition until 16.03.25
» 23/05/2022: Works by Archie Moore and Michael Riley from the National Gallery of Australia collection are on exhibition at the National Gallery of Singapore in the landmark exhibition, Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia. The exhibition "surveys historical and contemporary works by over 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia—the largest exhibition of its kind to travel to Asia. Drawn from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, the artworks show deep interconnections between past and present, as well as extraordinary artistic innovation." 27/05/22 - 27/09/22
» 03/11/2018: Works by Michael Riley will be featured in the exhibition ‘Ngabindiyi dulmarra (measured pressure)’, curated by Jonathan Jones at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. 'The exhibition presents the work of Michael Riley and Lorraine Connelly-Northey who are visionary Wiradjuri/Waradgerie artists of national significance.' Exhibition dates: 10/11/18 until 03/02/19.
» 19/01/2018: Join The Boomalli Ten exhibition curator Djon Mundine In Conversation this Saturday 12 – 2pm, speaking with founding Boomalli artists Brenda L Croft, Bronwyn Bancroft, Euphemia Bostock, Fern Martins, Arone Meeks, and Avril Quaill. 'The Boomalli Ten' is a 30 year anniversary exhibition recognising The Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative established in 1987. The exhibition includes works by the ten founding members of Boomalli including Boronwyn Bancroft, Euphemia Bostock, Brenda L. Croft, Fiona Foley, Fern Martins, Arone Meeks, Tracey Moffatt, Avril Quaill, Michael Riley and Jeffrey Samuels.
» 09/10/2017: Works by Michael Riley will be included in Boomalli Ten, the 30 year anniversary exhibition of Boomalli Aboriginal Arts-Co-operative, the ground-breaking gallery founded in 1987 by Bronwyn Bancroft, Euphemia Bostock, Brenda L. Croft, Fiona Foley, Fernanda Martins, Arone Raymond Meeks, Tracey Moffatt, Avril Quail, Michael Riley and Jeffrey Samuels (known as the ‘Boomalli Ten’). The exhibition, curated by Djon Mundine will showcase the work of all the founding members. The establishment of ‘Boomalli’ meaning ‘to strike’ or ‘make a mark’ in at least three Aboriginal languages: Bandjalung, Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri, was motivated by disappointment in the lack of action and progress on Aboriginal issues since the 1967 Referendum 20 years earlier. “Boomalli was the result of 20 years of political action, it was largely female in number, gay, communal and widely open to ideas and new artists,” said artist, Djon Mundine, OAM, who will be curating the exhibition. Opening Friday 03/11/17, 6pm. The exhibition continues until 28/01/18.
» 29/08/2017: It is a pleasure to announce that three Estate editions (Aunty Ruthie, Kenny Copeland and Nanny Wright and dog) from Michael Riley's 1990 series A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries have been acquired by Monash Gallery of Art.
» 14/11/2016: A series of Michael Riley's early urban portraits, which included a significant number of dancers, are in the exhibition Naya Wa Yugali (We Dance) at Carriageworks, Sydney. The exhibition, curated by Tahjee Moar, is a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Dance Association College. Founded by Carole Johnson in 1976, indigenous dance workshops in Glebe and Redfern led to the formation of the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) and a school for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance that is now known as NAISDA. Naya Wa Yugali (translating to We Dance in Darkinyung language) features oral histories, a new commission by Vicki Van Hout and Marian Abboud and the work of artists including Tracey Moffatt, Michael Riley, Juno Gemes, Lee Chittick and Elaine Kitchener. Until 11/12/16.
» 27/10/2016: It is a pleasure to announce that an Estate edition of Michael Riley's 1990 portrait, Avril and Miya, has been acquired by the University of Technology Sydney Collection.
» 13/07/2016: In 1990, Michael Riley donated the first edition of his A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries to Moree Plains Gallery, where the series of fifteen black and white portraits were taken. The photographs are on exhibition at Moree Plains Gallery for NAIDOC week along with photographic portraits by Greg Weight and John Williams. Coverage of the exhibition in the Moree Champion.
» 09/07/2016: The exhibition of Michael Riley's 1990 series, A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries, has been extended until 23/07/16.
» 08/06/2016: Concurrent with their exhibition at The Commercial 10/06/16 to 09/07/16, Michael Riley's 1990 portraits of the Aboriginal community in Moree, A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries, will be on display at the State Library of New South Wales. An audio interview with Ronald Briggs, Indigenous Services Librarian at the SLNSW, is available on the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association website. Briggs is himself from Moree. The SLNSW exhibition continues until 28/08/16.
» 05/02/2016: Works from Michael Riley's earliest series of conceptual photographs, Sacrifice, are included in Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia at Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. The exhibition, curated by Stephen Gilchrist, "surveys contemporary Indigenous art from Australia, exploring the ways in which time is embedded within Indigenous artistic, social, historical, and philosophical life. For Indigenous people, the past is understood to be part of a cyclical and circular order known as the “everywhen”; conceptions of time rely on active encounters with both the ancestral and natural worlds. While the exhibition focuses on the last 40 years of Indigenous art, it also includes historical objects from the rich collections of Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to underscore both the continuity of cultural practice and remarkable adaptive innovations." Exhibition dates: 05/02/16 - 18/09/16.
» 01/07/2015: Latrobe Regional Gallery is exhibiting Michael Riley's 1996 documentary film, Blacktracker, a film based on the life of the artist's grandfather, Alexander Riley, a legendary tracker who worked for the NSW Police Force from 1911-1950 who "has done more to solve major crime, recapture jailbreakers and save lives than any other Aboriginal man in that state." Exhibition dates: 04/07/15 - 02/08/15
» 22/06/2015: Works by Mitch Cairns, Gunter Christmann, Emily Hunt, Clare Milledge, Michael Riley and Mary Teague are included in the group exhibition, Writing Art, curated by Scott Donovan, at Artspace, Sydney. "Writing Art illustrates how the use of text has evolved into an integral and multifaceted aspect of contemporary art. The use of text may be fundamentally material, focusing on the resonant connotations of words. It may be punning and self-referential. It may be spatial and constructive. It may draw close to poetry while maintaining a strong visual identity. It may be documentarian, or mockingly so, where text is suggested as part of a narrative, or fictional, archive. Ultimately, it is the sheer mutability of the textual within the context of the visual arts that allows it to keep speaking, amongst works and to an ever-growing audience receptive to the form." Opening Thursday 25/06/15, 6-8pm. Exhibition continues until 16/07/15.
» 21/05/2015: A review by Stella Rosa McDonald of Buruwi Burra (Three Skies) on The Art Life.
» 26/09/2014: A selection of works from Michael Riley's 1995 series, they call me niigarr, and his 1997 film, Empire, are included in the exhibition BLAK: Forced into images at AAMU - Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Utrecht. The exhibition includes work by Richard Bell, Bindi Cole, Destiny Deacon, Fiona Foley, Michael Riley and Christian Thompson. Exhibition dates 12/10/14 - 04/01/15.
» 20/06/2014: The Commercial is excited in anticipation of its first presentation at Melbourne Art Fair in the Royal Exhibition Building from 13/08/14 - 17/08/14. Presented by the Melbourne Art Foundation, a not for profit organisation, Melbourne Art Fair is one of Australasia’s longest running contemporary art events. For 25 years the Fair has stimulated critical and commercial attention for galleries and their artists directly contributing to the livelihood of living artists. The Commercial will present a group exhibition in the MAF Galleries sector. Collector's passes and tickets to the opening night Vernissage on Wednesday 13 August, 6-10pm are available on the Melbourne Art Fair website.
» 09/06/2014: Ace Bourke, Trustee of the Michael Riley Foundation and independent curator, is guest speaker at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra on Thursday 12/06/14, presenting a talk and tour of the Beauty and Strength: Portraits by Michael Riley exhibition followed by a lunch. Bookings required.
» 09/04/2014: Michael Riley's fifteen early portraits exhibited last year at The Commercial were acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. The entire series is currently on exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery 21/03/14 - 17/08/14 as Beauty and Strength: Michael Riley. They "stand as an intricately connected group portrait of the vibrant urban-based Indigenous arts community in Sydney's inner-west at a formative moment."
» 27/08/2013: It is a pleasure to announce that Michael Riley's series Portraits 1984-1990 have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.
» 21/06/2013: Works by Michael Riley from the private collection of Will Owen and Harvey Wagner are currently on exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art in the USA. Crossing Cultures - The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art was curated by Stephen Gilchrist and presented first at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, before travelling to Toledo. These works by Riley will form part of the permanent collection of the Hood Museum as part of the promised gift from Owen and Wagner. The exhibition in Toledo continues until 14 July, 2013. A 169 page catalogue has been published to accompany the exhibition.
» 12/06/2013: It is with honour that The Commercial Gallery announces that it is representing the Estate of the Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi photographer and filmmaker Michael Riley (1960-2004) in association with the Michael Riley Foundation. An exhibition of estate prints of Riley’s important early black and white portraits is being presented, opening on Friday 28 June 2013. Proceeds from sales will enable philanthropic activities by the Michael Riley Foundation in Michael's memory as an extension of its role as custodian of his artistic legacy. The Trustees of the Michael Riley Foundation are Hetti Perkins, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and Linda Burney MP. Michael Riley: Portraits 1984-1990 will be opened by Brenda L. Croft, curator of Michael Riley: sights unseen, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2006.
» 01/06/2013: Works by Archie Moore and Michael Riley are included in the exhibition My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. The exhibition is QAG|GOMA’s largest exhibition of contemporary art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to date. It examines the strengths of the Gallery’s holdings and explores three central themes — presenting Indigenous views of history (My history), responding to contemporary politics and experiences (My life), and illustrating connections to place (My country). Until 7 October, 2013.