Ryan Presley

Dr Ryan Presley is a Brisbane-based artist who was born in Alice Springs in 1987. His father’s family is Marri Ngarr from the Moyle River region in the Northern Territory. His mother’s family were Scandinavian immigrants to Australia. Presley is inspired by his family’s heritage and uses a range of mediums to express his ideas, including printmaking, watercolour, oil painting, sculpture and new media. He explores and questions Australia’s colonial history and its impact on the present, and he is particularly interested in how political power is conveyed through cultural and economic systems.

Presley’s acclaimed Blood Money series consists of large watercolour paintings that closely resemble Australian banknotes. The paintings feature portraits of Aboriginal leaders, warriors, advocates and writers as figures worthy of national commemoration, such as the resistance warrior Pemulwuy (1750–1802) and the poet, activist, environmentalist and educator Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993).

Presley’s Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminal is a participatory installation that reimagines Australia’s currency as a celebration of Aboriginal history. This is like money exchange booths often found at airports, where Australian dollars can be exchanged for foreign currency. Just like these real-world money exchange booths, the exchange rate at the Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminalfluctuates daily according to the rate set by the artist. Visitors can exchange Australian dollars (AUD) for various denominations of Blood Money Dollars (BMD). These are limited-edition banknote-size prints of works from Presley’s Blood Money series of watercolour paintings. Money raised through the Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminal goes to Aboriginal youth programs.

Presley researched Australian currency and carefully observed the use of line, pattern and colour. He looked at how money is printed and how the colours are layered, then he replicated this process by layering watercolours paints.

As it is illegal to counterfeit (produce fake money), Presley also had to consult the Reserve Bank of Australia to ensure that his work did not copy the national currency too closely. He did this by changing the scale and making sure the lines, patterns and colours he used where different from the Australian legal tender.

A primary aim of the series is to broadcast and promote important Aboriginal people within the context of Australian history and experience, testifying to their intelligence, perseverance and manoeuvrability
Ryan Presley, ‘Prosperity’, Art Monthly Australasia, No. 306, April 2018, p. 48.
Watch Ryan Presley artist video
Reference List

Books & Articles
Daniel Browning, ‘New Currency: Ryan Presley’, Artlink: Indigenous re-visions, vol.33, 2013, pp. 98–101.

‘Ryan Presley’, Artist Profile, https://www.artistprofile.com.au/ryan-presley/, 2018

Stephanie Convery, ‘Look again: the artist reinventing Australian money for postcolonial payback’, The Guardian, 24 January 2019, http://bit.ly/2lvbMqR

Website
‘Blood Money: Biographical information’, Reserve Bank of Australia Museum
http://bit.ly/2kUw2C9

Ryan Presley [artist’s website]
http://bit.ly/2myhMiE

‘Ryan Presley’s Blood Money Currency Exchange Terminal (2018/2019)’, Museum of Contemporary Art
http://bit.ly/2mwDPqk

‘Exhibitions: Collection Spotlight: Blood Money’, Reserve Bank of Australia Museum
http://bit.ly/2kTKoT9

Vincent Lingiari, ‘Exhibition: From Little Things Big Things Grow’, National Museum of Australia, http://bit.ly/2mrwEzC

‘Exhibition: From Little Things Big Things Grow: The song lyrics’, National Museum of Australia, http://bit.ly/2n0vc7y

Videos
About Ryan Presley:

‘Ryan Presley, Primavera 2018: Young Australian Artists’, Vimeo,
http://bit.ly/2kXF55i

About Gladys Tybingoompa:

‘Wik Vs Queensland - Gladys Tybingoompa tribute’, http://bit.ly/2lkgjN1

Emily Nicol, ‘Warrior spirits: The Wik women who stood up for their land and communities’, NITV, 28 June 2018, https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2018/06/12/warrior-spirits-wik-women-who-stood-their-land-and-communities

Education Resources
Mervyn Bishop interpretive resource, AGSA http://bit.ly/2kW124B

Australian Curriculum Connections - Civics and Citizenship (Years 3-10)

Citizenship, diversity and identity

  • Different perspectives about Australia’s national identity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, and what it means to be Australian (ACHCK066)
  • Diversity of cultural, religious and/or social groups to which they and others in the community belong, and their importance to identity. Recognising that the identity of First Nations Australians is shapes by Country/Place, language and knowledge of traditions (AC9HS4K09)
Australian Curriculum Connections - History (year 10)

Rights and freedoms (1945 – the present)

  • Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms before 1965, including the 1938 Day of Mourning and the Stolen Generations (ACDSEH104)
Australian Curriculum Connections - Modern History (Senior Secondary)

Movements for Change in the 20th century: Recognition and rights of Indigenous peoples

  • The nature of government policies and their impact on Indigenous peoples, for example protection, assimilation (including the Stolen Generations), and self-determination (ACHMH072)

installation view: Tarnanthi 2019 featuring works by Ryan Presley, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide;; photo: Saul Steed.

Responding
  • Look carefully at the lines Ryan Presley has used in the Blood Money series. What do you notice? Discuss why you think these types of lines are used on banknotes.
  • Compare Presley’s banknotes to Australian tender. What similarities do they share and how has he made them different? Tip: You may even like to use a magnifying glass.
  • Research where and how Australian banknotes are made. What are the unique security features of Australian currency compared to currency from other nations?
  • Investigate the people who feature on Presley’s banknotes. Who are they and what are they known for? What other symbols has Presley used on the note that relate to the person and their story?
  • Look at foreign exchange rates. Think of an item you would like to purchase. Calculate the cost of this item in three or four different currencies.
  • Collect examples of banknotes from around the world. Calculate how much these notes are worth in Australian dollars. Who is depicted on these banknotes and what images and symbols are used? Why do you think the people depicted on these notes have been selected? What similarities do they share?
  • Australian banknotes are an opportunity to honour Australians who have made important contributions to the nation. Who would you like to see on the next Australian banknote? Write a letter to the Australian Reserve Bank outlining your case.
  • The term ‘blood money’ refers to money obtained at the cost to someone else’s life. After researching the figures depicted on Presley’s notes, why do you think he has titled this series Blood money?
  • Research Uncle Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith. What symbols on Presley's banknote reference Uncle Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith?

installation view: Tarnanthi 2019 featuring Blood Money - Infinite Dollar Note - Uncle Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith Commemorative by Ryan Presley, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide;; photo: Saul Steed.

Making
  • Create a detailed line design. Experiment with different types of line – thick, thin, wavy, straight. How close or far apart can you make your lines? Use cross-hatching techniques or experiment with other ways of overlapping line. Make your work of art as unique as your own fingerprint so that it cannot be counterfeited or copied by anyone else.
  • Create your own currency. Think of someone in your life you would like to honour or an Australian who has made an important contribution. Design a banknote featuring this person. What secondary symbols or imagery will you include to tell the story of who your person is? Photocopy your currency and make notes of different denomination. Set an exchange rate between your classmates and exchange your currency.
  • Research one of the key figures depicted in the Blood Money series. As a class, brainstorm ways that people are commemorated publicly for their achievements. Select a well-know Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person and create a work of art that celebrates their life.
Gladys Tybingoompa

Watch ‘Wik Vs Queensland - Gladys Tybingoompa tribute

  • Look closely at Ryan Presley’s Blood Money – 100 Dollar Note – Gladys Tybingoompa Commemorative, 2011. Who is on the current Australian $100 banknote?
  • Research more about Gladys Tybingoompa’s life and achievements. Why do you think Presley chose to represent Tybingoompa? What key moments of Tybingoompa’s life has Presley illustrated?
  • Compare Presley’s banknote depicting Gladys Tybingoompa with the photograph of her taken by Ricky Maynard, Wik Elder, Gladys, from the series Returning to places that name us, 2000. After analysing both works, respond to the statement ‘Maynard and Presley create works of art that document the strength and struggles of Aboriginal people’.
  • Create a visual biography of a contemporary Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander leader. This could be someone from your own community who you admire or a well-known politician or musician. What materials and symbols could you use to communicate their story?

Ricky Maynard, Ben Lomond and Cape Portland people, Lutruwita (Tasmania), born Launceston, Tasmania 1953, Wik Elder, Gladys, from the series Returning to Places that Name Us, 2000; printed 2009, printed by Chris Reid, Blanco Negro, Sydney, gelatin-silver photograph, 45.0 x 55.0 cm (image); Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM through the Art Gallery of South Australia Contemporary Collectors 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Ricky Maynard/Copyright Agency, photo: Ricky Maynard.

Vincent Lingiari

Mervyn Bishop’s photograph captures Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pouring soil into the hand of traditional owner Vincent Lingiari in 1975. This significant moment in Australian history followed a nine-year strike over working conditions and a request for traditional lands to be returned to the Gurindji people.

  • Find out more about who Vincent Lingiari was and what was the Wave Hill walk-off. Tip: See AGSA’s interpretive resource on Mervyn Bishop.
  • How was the action of pouring sand into Lingiari’s hand symbolic?
  • Compare this photograph to Ryan Presley’s portrait of Vincent Lingiari. What is the difference between documenting and illustrating an event?•Listen to Paul Kelly’s song From Little things Big Thing Grow. Compare the events described in the song with how Presley has chosen to illustrate the Wave Hill walk-off in 1966.
  • Illustrate a significant historical moment that celebrates the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Mervyn Bishop, Wailwan people, New South Wales, born Brewarrina, New South Wales July 1945, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of traditional owner Vincent Lingiari, 1975, Northern Territory, gelatin-silver photograph, 40.0 x 27.2 cm (image), 50.5 x 40.5 cm (sheet); Board Members Fund 2009, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Photograph by Mervyn G Bishop, Courtesy the Australian Government.