In memory of stars

This exhibition expands on Gebhardt’s recent large-scale lightboxes from the same series installed along the Birrarung (Yarra River) for PHOTO 24. Notably, the work ‘Wallaby’, presented in this exhibition, also won the prestigious William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize in 2022.

“These works interweave X-ray technology with elements including satellite and long exposure photography of the night sky on Wadawurrung country, where the land animals were found,” says Gebhardt.

“This involved the layering of light frequencies so small they pass through skin, and others so vast they began millions of light years away.”

Gebhardt’s detail-rich lightboxes invite close inspection, revealing information not visible to the naked eye as a way to speak to colonial violences that may be deliberately hidden or erased.

Amos Gebhardt would like to thank the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Dr Paola Balla for their generous time, knowledge sharing and consultation.

Thank you to Kane Wilson and the CSIRO for their support and generosity. Marine archival documents courtesy of CSIRO.

This series was supported by Arts South Australia.