Promiscuous Provenance has been described as a milestone in Anna’s art making and is an exhibition that has incredible depth in the commentary on Australia’s history and the conversation we continue to have about the impact of colonisation and what it means to be Australian. 

Bronwyn Coulston, manager at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, has seen the development of the series over the past two years and describes the works as “quirky, accessible and engaging ”.

“Regardless of your understanding of colonial history, your familiarity with the works of the colonial artists or your interest in the big questions being asked – this is an exhibition that will make you smile and will encourage you to look at the works to discover all the beautiful detail,” Bronwyn said.

When Anna approached Bronwyn in 2016 with some samples of the new work she was developing, including two pieces from the ‘awaiting discovery’ series, Bronwyn immediately connected to them and recognised the colonial references within the works. 

From talking about these pieces and the interest Anna had in the colonial artists and her understanding of the tradition of copying that informed so many colonial works, the idea for the Promiscuous Provenance exhibition was born.

Anna travelled and studied extensively to research the early colonial works that informed her art, including the Natural History Museum in London, where she was able to explore a wealth of multiple First Fleet original artwork folios.

Her panorama work ‘Eurotipodes’, includes inverted upside images  taken from colonial landscape painter John Glover’s British sketchbook. In a display of Anna’s wit, she has reclaimed Australia’s position in the world by turning the European world upside down, questioning England’s idea that we are somehow the nation Down Under. 

Audiences will be able to engage with the exhibition through a variety of events that will be held over the next two months, including a panel discussion on April 7, a locally-sourced dinner on April 21 and an art workshop with Anna on May 19.

The panel discussion, which will start at 11am on April 7, will include Louise Anemaat from the State Library of NSW, aboriginal elder and historian Les Bursill, biologist Peter Dalmazzo and Anna Glynn in discussion. This event is free but bookings are required.

Once the exhibition wraps up at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery on June 2, it will begin a three year tour around Australia, ending up full circle at the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum in 2021.

Anna hopes that the Promiscuous Provenance exhibition will encourage a re-examining of our relationship with our colonial past and inspire Australians to use this as an opportunity to engage with the many conversations that are happening about this period in our history.

Art writer, Louise Martin-Chew comments in the exhibition catalogue that “In these images, the historical layers continue to build, and Glynn’s treatment evokes, accepts and extends agency to all of those who have gone before, like an echo chamber capable of metamorphosis, it offers a voice to those who were voiceless.”

“In the Promiscuous Provenance series, I indulge my perpetual curiosity to lead me back in time to an intersection of worlds. By re-interpreting images of the Australian colonial painters through an almost naive playful engagement, the artworks express a nostalgia for an antipodean wonderland before the imprint of colonization was stamped over the landscape and its inhabitants,” Anna said.

“This is a world of fantasia, a place on the cusp of reality and imagination, populated by bizarre reimagined hybrid characters and featuring strange natural history tableaux,” she said.

“I am hoping that this exhibition will be accessible, friendly and open up further conversations about our shared Australian history.”

Les Bursill, OAM, is an Aboriginal elder, anthropologist and historian who has helped Anna with the exhibition in recognising important links between her work and the connected aspects of Sydney Aboriginal cave art, especially in relation to her repositioning of early and precolonial works.

The exhibition at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery and the tour across NSW, QLD and SA will bring a whole new audience to Anna’s work and an appreciation of the depth of her work.

Anna is represented in a number of collections across Australia, is invited on numerous international residencies and has been a finalist in many of the nation’s highly esteemed art awards including the Wyndham Prize and Kilgour Prize. Recently her work was acquired by the Parliament House Art Collection in Canberra and she has been selected for BOAA – the Biennale Of Australian Art 2018.

She works with a palette of sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, film making, moving image, digital animation, photography, writing, music, sound, and theatre.

The exhibition is free and one not to be missed.

Anna will have signed, limited edition prints of images from the exhibition for sale.

For bookings for the dinner, the art workshop and the panel, visit www.southcoasttickets.com.au.

For more information about the exhibition and the artist, visit www.annaglynn.com.