Vernon Ah Kee

Vernon Ah Kee

At Cairns Indigenous Art Fair

04 July–22 August 200904 Jul–22 Aug 2009

In the 2008 Biennale of Sydney, indigenous artist Vernon Ah Kee appropriated a disused toilet block on Cockatoo Island as an art work, titling it Born in this Skin. Full of racist, sexist, homophobic, and otherwise repugnant graffiti, the room offered a chilling reminder of the reality of living with prejudice. For the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, he presents graffiti-covered doors from the toilets. These obscene found drawings offer a counterpoint to the ennobling portraits of relatives for which Ah Kee is known.