Judy Watson

Born in Mundubbera, Queensland, Judy Watson is a Brisbane-based artist whose Aboriginal matrilineal family is from Waanyi country in northwest Queensland. Watson’s process evolves by working from site and memory, revealing Indigenous histories, and following lines of emotional and physical topography that centre on particular places and moments in time. Spanning painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and video, her practice often draws on archival documents and materials such as maps, letters and police reports, to unveil institutionalised discrimination against Aboriginal people.

Exhibiting extensively since the 1980s, Watson co-represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale. Her work is held in major Australian and international collections including the National Gallery of Australia; all Australian state galleries; Tate Modern, London; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; St Louis Art Museum, USA; British Museum, London; Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, England; Library of Congress, Washington, USA; and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, University of Virginia, USA. Significant solo exhibitions have been held recently at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, England, 2020; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2018.