Deutscher and Hackett

‘Art can save you. Art can change you. Art is an act of power. Don’t let anyone say you can’t do it or say otherwise. I think if I could inspire other people or have other people talk about my work in the future, I just want them to remember that I am just this kid that came from the west. I had nothing and took a chance.’1

Growing up in Melbourne’s multicultural western suburbs, Reko Rennie recalls that he did not experience overt racism until later in life, ‘There were Vietnamese immigrants, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish kids, all these different nationalities, a real melting pot of diversity in the community.’2 Raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Julia—a Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay woman born in Walgett, northern New South Wales, and a member of the Stolen Generations—Reko became aware of the impacts of structural racism from an early age. Although his family had endured the institutional racism that separated Julia from her birth family, his mother’s strength and pride in her Aboriginal identity deeply influenced him. From a young age, visits to the National Gallery of Victoria with his mother exposed Reko to art from diverse cultures around the world. While he felt disconnected from the Aboriginal art typically displayed in galleries—most often works from remote communities—he found inspiration in urban Indigenous artists such as Destiny Deacon, as well as international figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol.

Reko sought out an art that reflected his lived experience and ‘for the young Rennie, graffiti was synonymous with city life.’3 2 Ngaarr – 2 Strong translates literally to ‘Too Strong’ in the Kamilaroi language of his maternal grandmother and accordingly, the present is a bold gestural composition shimmering in blue and red. It has an energy that echoes the tagging and urban interventions from Rennie’s earlier expressions in graffiti on trains, bridges, buildings and other structures along train lines in the inner west of Melbourne.


Signalling an intention to position his Indigenous heritage at the forefront of his artistic practice, Rennie’s OA (Original Aboriginal) project, employs Kamilaroi patterning inherited from his grandmother – specifically, the diamond-shaped designs previously carved into trees for use in ceremony. Such traditional designs are combined with hard-edged abstraction, camouflage and geometric patterning, together with graffiti-style text to produce proclamations of political resistance and commentary on Aboriginal identity, alongside broader cultural themes of power, memory and history.

1. Reko Rennie, cited in an interview with Myles Russell-Cook, August 2024 in ‘Sacred geometry: The art and life of Reko Rennie’ in REKOSPECTIVE: The Art of Reko Rennie at: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/sacred-geometry-the-art-and-life-of-rek... (accessed 16 October 2025)
2. ibid
3. ibid.

CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE