Reading the extract 'Cannot buy my soul' from the book 'Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial' I was intrigued to look up the works of Indigenous artist Daniel Boyd from the descriptions of his appropriations. The text describes the work 'King No Beard' which is a direct appropriation of a portrait of King George III by Nathaniel Dance (1773). King George III was associated with the early days of Australia's colonisation, and the painting refers to this by replacing the gold orbs on the necklace with gold skulls. Also included in Boyd's work is a self portrait in the form a depacitated head in a jar. This is a reference to '18th-century Dharug/Dharuk resistance leader Pemulwuy', who led uprisings against the colonisers before eventually being caught and beheaded. His head was bottled and sent back to England as trophy. The inclusion of a parrot on the figures soldier suggests that King George suggests his true status as a thieving pirate, who robbed the Aboriginal people of their land and way of life.
'King No Beard', Daniel Boyd, 2007
'Portrait of George III' Nathaniel Dance, 1773
Some other works I researched include 'Governor No beard' which also uses pirate emblems, a parrot and eye patch, to suggest the figure is a thief. Boyd re-appropriates images which portray these men in power as 'heroes' to reveal the truth behind the colonisation of Australia.
'Governor No Beard' Daniel Boyd, 2007
'We call them Pirates out here' again shows the colonisation from the perspective of the Aboriginals, who see the colonisers as villians, not noble figures.
'We call them Pirates out here' Daniel Boyd, 2006
Another work by Boyd I found that i really liked was 'Fall & Expulsion' (2006), which is below.
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