Killed in the line of duties led to Gundy's innocent killing (who me, why me?), 6 April, 1990 / painting by Robert Campbell Jr.

ML 1473

fonds

6 April 1990

Graphic Materials, Paintings

1000943

1 painting - oil - 93 x 120 cm

Robert Campbell Junior (1944-1993) was a Ngaku/Dhunghutti man and urban Aboriginal artist who grew up in Kempsey, NSW. He was educated at the Burnt Bridge Mission School and started painting after returning to his birthplace in the early 1980s. He came to prominence in the late 1980s, when shows in Sydney and Melbourne at the Roslyn Oxley and Christine Abrahams galleries brought him critical recognition. Many of his works reflect issues of race discrimination, deaths in custody, deforestation, land rights, the stolen generation and the Indigenous rights movement.

Reference:
National Portrait Gallery (accessed 29 June 2016)
http://www.portrait.gov.au/people/robert-campbell-1944

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, from the private collection of the late Duncan Kentish, Adelaide.

1 oil painting, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. The painting depicts the events surrounding the controversial police shooting of David Gundy in Marrickville, following a police raid on his home on 27 April 1989. David Gundy’s death, which happened during the time of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, became a flashpoint and catalyst for change. It highlighted an inherent lack of justice and galvanised the Aboriginal community in Sydney against police violence.

Copyright status:: In copyright - Life of artist plus 70 years
Research & study copies allowed:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy the Estate of the late Robert Campbell Junior.

Robert Campbell Jr, History Painter, edited by C. Armstrong, Artbank, Sydney, 2015. p. 81 and p. 87

Signed, dated and inscribed by artist 'Ngaku'