Reko rennie biography

Reko Rennie explores his Aboriginal identity through his use of painting, stenciling, sculpture, installation and film. Although Rennie grew up in Melbourne, his heritage lies with the Kamilaroi people of northern New South Wales.

The significance of this heritage was imparted to him by his grandmother Julia, with whom Rennie shared a special relationship.

Reko rennie biography wikipedia

Julia was forcibly removed from her family during the 1920s and enslaved at a pastoral station.

In his youth, Rennie recalls a photograph of a pastoralist with his wife in their ‘Sunday best’, sitting in a luxurious Rolls-Royce car.

He was struck by the injustice of his grandmother’s experience when compared to the wealth and power of the scene portrayed in the photograph. In OA_RR, Rennie uses the Rolls-Royce as a symbol with which to depict this contradiction.

Rennie has painted the Rolls-Royce with a camouflage pattern in bright and bold colours.

Traditionally, camouflage conceals or disguises animals or objects by using a