My Mother, Blessed and Cursed with Sons
22 April 2022 - 5 June 2022
My Mother, Blessed and Cursed with Sons
Jonathan McBurnie
Jonathan McBurnie, MAXIMUM GRIEF, 2021, Ink, watercolour and gouache on paper, 38 x 57cm.
Jonathan McBurnie’s latest body of drawings and mixed-media work draws parallels between the constructed worlds of art and pro-wrestling. The two ostensibly disparate idioms share the willing mental or physical sacrifice of one’s own self as fuel for the artistic act and the presentation of constructed versions of the self, and both present a massive index of jargon and industry-specific terms. Over 200 amassed works will explore the paradoxes, nuances and humour of wrestling in McBurnie’s signature style.
The exhibition catalogue features an essay by Drew Connor Holland. Download it here or pick up your copy in the exhibition space today.
Jonathan McBurnie is an artist, writer and cartoonist presently based in Queensland, Australia. McBurnie completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 2014, examining the shifting role of drawing in the digital age, emphasizing the discipline’s ongoing tenacity through tactility, adaptability and eroticism. Over his two decades of artistic practice, McBurnie has earned a dedicated cult following with his prolific output, keen observational drawing and deadpan commentary of contemporary art, exhibitions nationally and abroad. From 2018 to 2021, McBurnie worked as the Creative Director of Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and Pinnacles Gallery in Townsville and has since moved on to become the Director of Rockhampton Museum of Art (RMOA). McBurnie has been published in Eyeline, Catalogue, The Lifted Brow, Penthouse Australia, Trip, the Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture and Sneaky, where he was an editor and contributor. His work is held in a number of collections around Australia and overseas including the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney and Brooklyn Art Library in New York City.
Also on display during this period
All Exhibitions
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Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks.
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408 Flinders Street,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
PO Box 2394,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
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Acknowledgement of Country
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region - Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal - as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
Umbrella is a Dealer Member of the Indigenous Art Code. This means we are committed to fair and ethical trade with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and transparency in the promotion and sale of artwork. As a Dealer Member and signatory to the Code we must act fairly, honestly, professionally and in good conscience in all direct or indirect dealings with artists.
Acknowledgements
Umbrella is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. | Umbrella is supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. | Townsville City Council is a funding partner of Umbrella's program.
