Fiona Foley, HHH #1, 2004. courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Alex McDonald - Fiona Foley & Angela Brennan
05 April 2005
The partnering of Fiona Foley and Angela Brennan seems an unlikely one. As an Indigenous artist, Foley has consistently veered away from the traditional route of dots and woodcarvings, preferring to work with photography and installation, while Brennan is a painter deeply immersed in the traditions of abstraction. The one obvious thing that they have in common is their deliberate use of vivid colours. Brennan’s Geranium Lake series of chromatic, thickly painted stripes and Foley’s garish, anti-racist photographs are poles apart in terms of style and content, yet both utilise big colours to give the work an aesthetic kick. 
Some of Brennan’s paintings tend towards op art (although nothing like the head-spinning effect of Bridget Riley’s canvases). Her lines are rougher, hastily painted in long expressive strokes that obey a number of self-imposed laws. For the series Brennan demanded that each work:
Be the same size
Use only one colour per painting (not including white)
Minimise overlapping and intersections of lines
Be drip-free
Eliminate solid shapes of colour
Give each painting a readymade title after the colour from which it was made
Brennan’s repeated, multicoloured lines curve and bend, exploring the surface of the canvas in as many combinations as she possibly can within the limits that she purports. The results are attractive though a little prosaic. The inclusion of Fiona Foley’s highly confrontational photographs in the backroom is, therefore, an astute curatorial move, adding a much-needed punch to the rambling prettiness in the main gallery space.
You could be forgiven for assuming that the process of creating No Shades of White involved Foley getting together half a dozen members of the KKK and giving them a Queer Eye-style makeover. These perversely funny portraits are accompanied by the actual outfits, which hang on the opposite wall. Closer scrutiny reveals that these aren’t Klansmen at all but members of the obscure HHH (shorthand for Hedonistic Honky Haters) movement. According to Foley the HHH was founded in 1965 and though a once thriving underground movement, is now largely inactive. Apparently, Foley found seven one-time members while in New York as an artist-in-residence.
The impact of No Shades of White is reminiscent of a scene in the film Ghostworld. In it the protagonist, Enid brings to her school art class a racist billboard from the 1920s to which her horrified classmates respond with consternation and anger. Unfortunately the shock factor is lessened somewhat by the fact that The Klu Klux Klan is much more an American phenomenon than an Australian one.
Whether you choose to believe the story behind the HHH (it seems pretty unlikely) is not really that important. These are smart works from an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed or limited by her ethnicity. These are the sort of pithy photographs that Tracey Moffatt wishes she took.
More Information
Fiona Foley & Angela Brennan
Until 23 April
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery
8 Soudan Lane, Paddington
Tues - Fri 10 - 6, Sat 11 - 6
Details: (02) 9331 1919
Inset image: Angela Brennan, Permanent Magenta, 2005. Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.
Website: http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/
