Representation and exchange are central to Ryan Presley’s solo exhibition, Prosperity. Two bodies of work explore these ideas in different modes. The first is Blood Money, a series of paintings that the artist has been producing since 2010. In these richly-layered watercolours, Presley reimagines the figureheads on Australian banknotes as the heroes and warriors of Aboriginal history, including Pemulwuy, Dundalli, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The second is a participatory currency exchange the artist has staged for the duration of the exhibition, wherein visitors are invited to convert Australian dollars (AUD) into Blood Money currency (BMD). In the artist’s words, the works together explore “contemporary Australian experiences of dispossession, oppression and the oft suppression of their legacies”. Documentation courtesy of Carl Warner.
