Learn more about Brisbane-based artist Ryan Presley’s ongoing project Blood Money (2010–present), which deals with representation and exchange. In his IMA exhibition Prosperity, Presley reimagines heroes and warriors of Aboriginal history—including Pemulwuy, Dundalli, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal—as figureheads on Australian banknotes. Hear Presley, in conversation with exhibition curator Madeleine King, as they discuss the research process and the historical figures referenced in these works.
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Ryan Presley was born in 1987 in Alice Springs. His father’s family is Marri Ngarr ,and originate from the Moyle River region in the Northern Territory. He lives in Brisbane. In 2016, his work was included in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in Darwin, Frontier Imaginaries: No Longer at Ease at the Institute of Modern Art, and the TarraWarra Biennial Endless Circulation. Presley completed a PhD at Queensland College of Art, and his current project Prosperity: an In-Depth Analysis of the Blood Money Series is supported by the Griffith University’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Scheme.
