Photographic portraits of Fern Martins, 1988 / by Michael Riley

ON 629

fonds

1988

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9612076

6 negatives - black and white
1 contact print - black and white

Fern Martins is an Ngarabul woman from New South Wales. She launched her career at the age of 19 with a one-woman sculptural exhibition and has developed her career as a sculptor, printmaker and artist. In 1988, together with other young Aboriginal urban artists, Fern started Boomalli, the Sydney Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. She has exhibited at the National Gallery and has lectured at the University of Adelaide.
Reference:
Magabala Books, https://www.magabala.com/ (accessed 26 September 2018)

Michael Riley (1960 – 2004) a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man, photographer, film-maker and video-artist, is one of Australia’s most influential Indigenous contemporary artists. Born in Dubbo, Riley moved to Sydney in the late 1970s, setting aside his carpentry apprenticeship in 1982 and taking photography courses at Sydney University’s Tin Sheds Gallery and the Sydney College of the Arts. Riley and his work became integral to the emerging movement of Indigenous artists working in photography and new media. Riley was one of the nine co-founders of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Ko-operative (later Co-operative) in 1987. He exhibited in the ground-breaking Indigenous art exhibitions Koori Art '84’ at Artspace, Sydney and NADOC ’86 Exhibition of Aboriginal and Islander photographers at the Aboriginal Artists Gallery, Sydney.
Reference:
National Portrait Gallery, https://www.portrait.gov.au/ (accessed 26 September 2018)

Negatives and contact sheet given to Fern Martins by Michael Riley in 1988

Six black and white negatives and one black and white contact print of Fern Martins, Alexandria, New South Wales, photographed by Michael Riley, 1988.

Copyright status:: In copyright - Life of photographer plus 70 years
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales