Ron Hurley was born in Mt Gravatt, Queensland on 19 October 1946. He is from the Gooreng Gooreng people on his mother’s side, and the Mununjali people on his father’s side. His family totem is 'Gnyala’ – the Owl. His personal totem is 'Wajgan’ – the Willy Wag Tail. From an early age Hurley showed skill in areas of sport and art – he was a high achiever in athletics, cricket and football, and he topped his classes in art throughout his primary and secondary education. His love and talent for art grew and saw him develop his first exhibition in 1966 at the age of 19. On August the 6th of this same year Hurley married Colleen Rose Kirk, from Cherbourg. They have two children, daughter Angelina and son Simon.
Hurley was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Queensland College of Art when in 1975 he obtained a Degree in Visual Arts. He furthered his study at the Brisbane College of Advanced Education Kelvin Grove from 1976 to 1977. Hurley’s career is as diverse as his talent from being a sign writer and commercial artist, to later on as an arts manager, curator, teacher and lecturer. Hurley’s achievements were many including being awarded the 1992 Australia Council for the arts residency at the Cite des Arts in Paris, and exhibited at the Australian Consulate; working in collaboration with Minale Tattersfield Bryce and Partners as the Artist designer of the highly acclaimed Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Bid Logo; he was the first artist to initiate and facilitate artistic workshops to the Indigenous Artistic communities of far north Queensland specifically Aurukun. His work developing into the now growing trend of casting traditional Indigenous sculpture into cast metal medium and unique pieces of art. He was awarded the Ian Fairweather Memorial Prize, Redcliff Arts Prize, Gatton Art Prize, and NAIDOC National Poster Competition. Arts residencies include at Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove Campus, and Capricornia Campus, Rockhampton. Along with curator Djon Mundine, Hurley was the judge on the panel of the very 1st Telstra Indigenous Art Award in Darwin. He held numerous positions of expertise and authority including: being the first Aboriginal member of the Board of Trustees of the Queensland Art Gallery from 1996 to 1997, chairing the Visual Arts Committee of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts from 1993 to 1996, and chairing the Indigenous Reference Panel, of Queensland’s Indigenous Arts Marketing Export Agency (QIAMEA), with State Development from 2000 to 2002.
Hurley’s first passion however was for producing art. His skill, knowledge and talent spanned various media including ceramics, painting, sculpture, photography and film, public art, linocut and screen printing, clothing, jewellery and even furniture. Hurley’s work was often based on historical and political figures, and examining the plight of Aborigines in urban society. Ron’s aim was to immortalise Indigenous people and culture through his work. It is exhibited and collected both nationally and internationally. His most celebrated painting 'Bradman Bowled Gilbert’ (1989) was purchased by the Queensland Art Gallery in 1990. Refusing to adopt the “dot” style of the stereotyped art from Aboriginal artist, Hurley commented on his art in contemporary Australian culture stating, “traditional Aboriginal art forms have always had their fair share of exposure and promotion. Stereotyping, being what is it, relegated these forms to the realm of kitsch. At long last the world is responding in a more positive manner, and traditional art is being looked at in its rightful context. It is the very fibre of our country’s imagery. The urban Aboriginal situation is the one, which captures my imagination, for it is here that one experiences 'limboism’, being neither Black nor White, so I am told. A world of such extreme contrast is the one to which I have learned to respond, survive, and attempt to create in”. Hurley is highly respected as an artist not only throughout the arts industry but also throughout Indigenous communities all over Australia. A proud Aboriginal man, he dedicated his whole artistic life to his homelands in Queensland and his Aboriginal culture. He was a mentor for Australian Indigenous young and emerging artists and was a tireless campaigner, advocate and promoter of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture. Hurley’s career spanned over 4 decades. He passed away on 3 November 2002.
- Writers:
- Hurley, Angelina
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
