The Earthworks Poster Collective was an Australian
artist collective
An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the need ...
that operated out of the Sydney University Art Workshop, more commonly known as the
Tin Sheds
The Tin Sheds was the common name of the Sydney University Art Workshop was an Australian art workshop in Sydney, New South Wales, founded in 1969. Its name lives on in the Tin Sheds Gallery at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, ...
, in the 1970s. The collective, based in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, was active from 1972 to 1979.
History
The collective produced mainly screen-printed, political posters that sought to promote the rights of
Aboriginal people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
,
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
people, women, the unemployed and workers,
including the posters for the exhibition ''The D'Oyley Show'' (1979) by the Women's Domestic Needlepoint Group.
It also produced anti-nuclear, protest posters.
Earthworks Poster Collective disbanded in 1979, after failing to attract the funding needed to continue.
Today the Collective is regarded as having been the principal driving force in the early development of Australian political
poster art
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...
during the 1970s.
Works produced by the collective are held within the collections of The
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...
,
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
,
Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away.
The Queensland Art Gallery ...
, the
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...
, and the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
.
People
*
Michael Callaghan
*
Jan Mackay
*
Chips Mackinolty
Chips Mackinolty (born 12 March 1954) is an Australian artist. He was involved in the campaigns against the war in Vietnam by producing posters, and was a key figure in the radical poster movement.
Early life
Chips Mackinolty was born on 12 Mar ...
*
Marie McMahon
Marie Elizabeth Rita McMahon (born September 1953) is an Australian artist, known for her paintings, prints, posters, drawings, and design work. Born in Melbourne, she has worked in various communities of Australian Aboriginal people and works in ...
*
Toni Robertson
Toni Robertson (born 1953) is a visual artist, art historian and printmaker from Sydney, Australia. She is known for her poster making and involvement in the Earthworks Poster Collective, which operated out of the "Tin Shed" art workshops at ...
See also
*
Australian poster collectives
Australian poster collectives were artist collectives established in the late 1960s, 70s and 80s in the capital cities of Australia, largely led by women and focused on various forms of political activism.
There were also such collectives in th ...
*
Women's Domestic Needlework Group
The Women's Domestic Needlework Group was established in 1976 by Australian feminist artists Marie McMahon and Frances Phoenix, members of the Sydney branch of the Women's Art Movement, with an interest in reclaiming and focusing attention on the u ...
References
External links
State Library of New South Wales, First Ten Years of Sydney Women's Liberation Collection Earthworks Poster Collective silkscreen posters, 1974-1980, at the State Library of New South Wales
Australian artist groups and collectives
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