patrick

Patrick Griffin, photographer Sydney: Redfern Totems, Portraits and Street MuralsBorn in South London ( England ) in 1971, Patrick Griffin is a self-taught photographer, whose work focuses fundamentally on indigenous cultures and communities. Patrick Griffin travelled extensively through 6 continents and 50 countries before settling in Sydney, Australia for 15 years. In 2004 he began photographing street art and murals in Redfern, an area of inner-city Sydney, which has an historically large Aboriginal population. Through this he ..discovered.. a unique form of street art in Redfern, the murals of indigenous urban Aboriginals.Meeting and working with the Aboriginal artists responsible for these murals led to the creation of a series of images that were shown professionally in early 2004. The success of this exhibition led Griffin to concentrate on a full-time career in photography and further exhibitions of his work throughout 2004/5. His images began to include not only street art but also portraits of local people. Outstanding amongst these exhibitions was the commissioning of Griffin..s work at the Redfern Indigenous Community Centre Gallery at the ..Block.. in early 2005, the first non-indigenous artist to be shown at the centre. Opened by elders from the Aboriginal community and sponsored by the City of Sydney Council the show was extremely successful and prompted Griffin to return to Europe in July 2005 to present these unique images to a larger audience.Background of RedfernRedfern is an inner city of Sydney, with an historically large indigenous population. It has always been an area for Aboriginal people, the traditional owners of the area being the Gadigal people who have lived their for more than 40,000 years. With the arrival of the Europeans the Gadigal were virtually wiped out by a smallpox epidemic. It is estimated that between 50–90% of all Aboriginals in the vicinity of Sydney died from this epidemic within the first three years of European settlementIn the early 1970s a series of evictions and generally racial discrimination in the private housing market led to a lack of affordable housing. Due to this large numbers of Aboriginal people were squatting in the Redfern area leading to serious overcrowding and homelessness.In 1972 a new federal government was elected into power. By way of a government grant, the Aboriginal Housing company (AHC) was created and began purchasing and restoring a stock of houses in the area. This area became known as the Redfern ..Block.. and was the first urban land rights claim in Australia. In creating the Block, Aboriginal people were brought together and could live together the way they wished to live, sharing what they had with one another. By 1994, every house in the Block was owned by the AHC. Funding difficulties have since seen the Block fall into disrepair and together with the infiltration of heroin into the area in the early 1990s, the Block graduallly deteriorated into a virtual no-go zone. Police rarely ventured into the area except in large numbers.In 2004 the state government announced an ambitious plan for the redevelopment of the entire Redfern area, including the block. Redfern..s location close to the city meant that it was an attractive prospect for developers to profit from government land. A powerful new authority was set up to take control of the area, including Aboriginal areas. Amongst the goals of this authority was to fix the percieved ..social ills..of the area and to lift property prices. There are fears amongst the community that the government has a secret agenda – to force out the socially disadvantaged living in the area – including indigenous communities.The inspiration and energy of Patrick Griffin..s work comes from a fear that with redevelopment will come the loss of an ancient culture still surving in the centre of a large modern, western city. He seeks to capture positive images of a community under threat and under pressure from economic and social issues beyond their control. He believes it is vital to recognise that indigenous people are part of all of us and we cannot give them up without giving up many of our own, most deeply held values, much of our own identity – and our own humanity.Griffin..s work recognises the fragility of urban Aboriginal culture in the context of the modern world. He recognises the importance of street art and murals in capturing Aboriginal history, which is kept only in oral and pictorial forms, not in written forms. His methods capture not just the realism of the landscape but the essence of individual histories and spritualities. He seeks to bring the dispossessed out of the shadows, a central theme to his work. In Angry Eyes, the story or history, is told by the sharp searching eyes of an unknown creature that dares to look straight at the viewer. Concentrations of colour in this image create an agitated and disturbed character, which mimic the anger of the collective subconcious.Working with the blessing and support of the original mural artists (community elders), Griffins work has undergone a profound transformation as he shares with the viewer a unique community of people, both solitary and marginalized from mainstream society within the context of a large city with a rich and diverse culture.Patrick Griifin..s work has previously shown at the Rare Gallery, Pine Street Gallery and Redfern Community Centre Gallery (Sydney, Australia).An exhibition of his work at the Alliance Française (Sydney) was the winner of the 2005 Sydney Esquisse Art and Design festival.He continues to concentrate his work on the Aboriginal communities with a future series planned with communities in Kunnunnara, Western Australia. Patrick Griffin divides his time between Australia and Europe.

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