Michael Riley

Michael Riley (6 Jan 1960 – August 2004) was an Aboriginal Australian photographer and filmmaker, and co-founder of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. A significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art, Riley's work is held by many public art institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia.

Early life and education Riley was born on 6 January 1960 in Dubbo, central New South Wales, to Allen Riley and Dorothy, née Wright. His early years were spent on the Talbragar Aboriginal Reserve with his parents and siblings David, Wendy and Carol. His mother grew up on one of the two Aboriginal missions in Moree.

Career Riley moved to Sydney in 1976, and attended a photography course at the Tin Sheds, University of Sydney. He subsequently worked as a technician in the photography department of the Sydney College of the Arts, In 1986, his work, comprising five portraits of Aboriginal women, was included in the first exhibition of Indigenous photography at the Aboriginal Artists Gallery in Sydney. In the same year, along with nine other Sydney artists founded the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. The large prints from the exhibition were presented to the Moree Plains Gallery (now BAMM: Bank Art Museum Moree ). The State Library of New South Wales has digitised images of the photographs. In 1993 it acquired 10 smaller prints from the Boomalai Art Collective, printed and signed by Riley, and in 2016 acquired five further archival prints to complete the series, at which time it mounted an exhibition of them in the Amaze Gallery. The exhibition included a photo of Lyall Munro Snr and his wife Carmine Munro.

In 1996 Riley was commissioned by the Museum of Sydney to make Eora, a permanent video installation celebrating the Eora people of the Sydney region. particularly in projects such as Fly Blown (1998) and the digital art series Cloud (2000).

Riley's first digital series, Cloud (2000), was included in Photograhica Australis at ARCO in Spain, the Fourth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, and the 2003 Festival of Sydney.

In November–December 2016, his work was included in an exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of NAISDA at Carriageworks in Redfern. Naya Wa Yugali ("We Dance" in Darkinyung language).

Death and legacy He died in August 2004, aged 44.

Collections

Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Dubbo Regional Art Gallery Macarthur Institute of Higher Education BAMM: Bank Art Museum Moree Museum of Sydney National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria National Museum of Australia State Library of New South Wales Sydney International Airport University of Sydney

Selected filmography

Boomalli: Five Koorie Artists (1988) Breakthrough series: Alice (1988) Dreamings: The art of Aboriginal Australia (1988) Frances (1990) Malangi: A day in the life of a bark painter (1991) Poison (1991) Quest for country (1993) Welcome to my Koori world (1993) A passage through the aisles (1994) Kangaroo dancer (1994) Eora (1995) Blacktracker (1996) The masters (1996) Empire (1997) I don't wanna be a bludger (1999) Tent boxers (2000)