Artists statement

In these bold, dynamic portraits, seemingly surreal worlds are created and explored by the subjects, filling the ground floor with vibrant colour and life. Exploring mythology and fantasy, belonging and truth, Atong Atem continues her exploration of identity, and the ways in which we construct images and stories to understand ourselves and our surroundings.

Atem’s portraits reference the work of 20th century African studio photographers Malick Sidibe, Philip Kwame Apagya and Seydou Keita to create a visual representation of a relationship to culture. She was drawn to their work as an alternative to ethnographic and colonial images of Black people which she encountered in the history of photography on the African continent. This movement of photographers emerged from a desire to document themselves and their communities on their own terms.

Artist Bio
Atong Atem is an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Narrm/ Melbourne.

Atem’s work explores the inherent intimacy of portraiture and photography as well as the role photographers take as story tellers, interrogating photography as a framework for looking at the world and positioning people in it. She takes framing into a fantastical direction with the small portals over the subjects’ faces, inviting the viewer to look at them through a surreal and constructed lens.

Atem references the works of 20th century African studio photographers Malick Sidibe, Philip Kwame Apagya and Seydou Keita to create a visual representation of a relationship to culture. She works primarily with photography, video and textiles to explore migrant narratives and postcolonial practices in the African diaspora, the relationship between public and private spaces and the exploration of home and identity through portraiture.

Atem has exhibited her work across Australia, including National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Portrait Gallery, Immigration Museum, Gertrude Contemporary and Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Atem has at international art fairs including Photo London 2023, Photo Basel 2022 and Vogue Fashion Fair in Milan. 

Atem has exhibited internationally at the Tate Modern, London, and Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, C/O Berlin and with PHOTO Australia at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Atem has also exhibited in the Africa Fashion exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, which was launched and curated by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). 

Atem was the recipient of the inaugural La Prairie Art Award from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2022 and the National Gallery of Victoria and MECCA M-Power scholarship in 2017. Her work is held in numerous collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the State Library Victoria and the National Portrait Gallery.