Michael Cook

14 May – 3 August 2019

Ten Cubed first collected Michael Cook’s work in 2014 with the acquisition of Majority Rule (Tunnel) and has continued to acquire his works from the Mother and Invasion series. Now part of the collection, Michael Cook will have his first exhibition with Ten Cubed. Cook is a Brisbane-based photomedia artist with Bidjara heritage. His photographs subtly reveal the inconvenient truth and re-stage colonial scenes. The exhibition includes his works from Through my eyes, Object, Undiscovered, Majority Rule, Mother and his latest series of work Invasion. In the Majority Rule (2014) series, Cook invites the viewer to imagine an Australia with indigenous people being the majority by reversing social roles in the accustomed cultural hierarchy. The exhibition also features Cook’s earlier works – Through my eyes (2010) – a photographic project which portrays significant Australian faces through an indigenous gaze by overlaying Aboriginal faces on Australia’s prime ministers from Edmund Barton in 1901 to Julia Gillard in 2010.

Cook’s works convey a sense of quirkiness as colonial histories are recapitulated with stylized visuals. This unique aesthetic recalls a shared social history of our past experiences, establishing a universal connection that transcends cultures and perspectives. His work has been acquired by institutions including the British Museum, National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Michael Cook is represented by THIS IS NO FANTASY, Melbourne and Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane.

Artist Profile 

Michael Cook

Representing Galleries

THIS IS NO FANTASY

Andrew Baker Art Dealer