Dr. Ryan Presley was born in 1987 in Alice Springs, and currently lives and works in Brisbane. His father’s family is Marri Ngarr and originate from the Moyle River region in the Northern Territory. His mother’s family were Scandinavian immigrants to Australia. Presley’s art practice is a reflection of his locale, which he audits and critiques. In doing so, he mounts a larger inquiry that interrogates the articulations of power. Presley’s work has been included in the 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Darwin; the TarraWarra Biennial: Endless Circulation (both 2016); Trade Markings (Frontier Imaginaries Ed No. 5), Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands (2018); Just Not Australian, Artspace (2019) and We Change the World, NGV (2021). His work is held in public collections, which include the Museum of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, and the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Presley completed a PhD at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, in 2016. His solo exhibition Prosperity was held at the Institute of Modern Art in 2018. He is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
What does Hatched mean to you?’
A little over ten years ago the first four watercolour banknote paintings, Blood Money (2010), I painted were featured in the Hatched: National Graduate Show 2011 at PICA. With my university’s support, it was the first time I was able to travel interstate to exhibit and promote my artwork. It was also the first time I was able to travel anywhere in Western Australia. I remember there being a substantial program of events, and it was great to be able to meet a number of my national graduate cohort. Some of my favourite works from the show included Amy MacGregor’s photographic series Taken Place (2010) and Adam Adelpour’s courageous performance mixed media work Alakazam (2010). Over the years, Adam and I have kept in touch and caught up when I intermittently make it down to Sydney.
