Textaqueen
{{Short description|Australian artist (born 1975)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
TextaQueen (born 1975), formerly known as Arlene TextaQueen, is an Australian artist. They{{efn|TextaQueen self-identifies with the pronouns they/them.{{cite web|url=http://textaqueen.com/info|title=About|publisher=TextaQueen|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129100426/http://textaqueen.com/info/|archive-date=29 November 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://textaqueen.com/|title=TextaQueen|access-date=9 July 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pg/TextaQueen/about/|title=TextaQueen - About|website=Facebook |access-date=9 July 2019}}}} primarily work on paper with felt-tip marker pens commonly referred to as textas in Australia.
Early life and education
TextaQueen was born in 1975 in Perth, Western Australia, of Indian heritage. They received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Western Australia in 1995 and a Certificate in Interactive Multimedia from Metro Screen in Sydney in 1998.{{cite web|website=Design & Art Australia Online|url=https://www.daao.org.au/bio/arleen-textaqueen/personal_details/| date=29 May 2015| title=Arleen TextaQueen|access-date=6 March 2016}}
Career
TextaQueen exhibited TextaNudes, undressed portraits of women, queer, and trans performers, to positive reviews at Sullivan and Strumpf Fine Art in Sydney in March 2011.{{cite web|last1=Gall|first1=Naomi|title=TextaNudes: Arlene Textaqueen|url=https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/3635/textanudes-arlene-textaqueen/|website=Artlink|accessdate=6 March 2016}} Elizabeth Robinson of ArtWrite noted in 2011 that TextaQueen "[had] found a way to take the texta out of kindergarten and into contemporary fine art".{{cite journal|last1=Robinson|first1=Elizabeth|title=Arlene TextaQueen| journal=ArtWrite| date=2011| issue=45| pages=44–45| citeseerx=10.1.1.474.2907}} Their work also appears in the National Gallery of Australia.{{cite web|title=Space Invaders: Arlene TextaQueen|url=http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/SPACEINVADERS/Default.cfm?MnuID=4&GALID=37937&viewID=3|website=National Gallery of Australia|accessdate=7 March 2016}}
TextaQueen's 2014 show Coconut Legacy "used tigers, coconuts and Allen's chocolate chico babies to map the conflict between white supremacy and their Goan-Indian heritage".{{cite news|last1=Kale|first1=Neha|title=Five Female Artists You Should Invest In Now|url=http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-culture/five-female-artists-you-should-invest-in-now-20141127-11vj1g.html|accessdate=7 March 2016|work=Daily Life|date=28 November 2014}} Their survey exhibition "Between You and Me" was on display at Benalla Art Gallery and Tweed Regional Gallery in 2017{{cite web
|url=https://mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Exhibitions/Past-exhibitions/TextaQueen-Between-You-and-Me|title=TextaQueen: Between You and Me|publisher=Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery|access-date=9 December 2018}} and 2018.{{cite web|url=http://artsreview.com.au/on-the-couch-with-textaqueen/|title=On the Couch with TextaQueen|publisher=Arts Review|date=8 December 2017|access-date=9 December 2018}}
{{As of|December 2017}} TextaQueen was "creating a series of works about diversity, tokenism, and the experiences of 'minority artists' in the institutional arts complex". They were also holding drawing workshops for children and adults.{{cite web|title=Info|url=http://textaqueen.com/info/|website=TextaQueen|accessdate=7 March 2016}}
They had a creative fellowship at the State Library Victoria in which they drew on their own experiences, interviewed artists, and used the Library's political posters collection to produce a poster series addressing contemporary experiences of culturally diverse and otherwise marginalised artists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about-us/fellowships/creative-fellowships/previous-creative-fellows/2017/textaqueen|title=TextaQueen|website=State Library Victoria|language=en|access-date=2020-03-08}}
Textaqueen's work has been highlighted in She Persists: Perspectives on Women in Art & Design published by the National Gallery of Victoria.{{Cite book|editor=Megan Patty |editor2=Myles Russell-Cook |editor3=Annika Aitken |editor4=Maria Quirk|title=She Persists|year=2020|isbn=978-1-925432-76-3|location=Melbourne, VIC|oclc=1128178834}}
Recognition
In 2021, TextaQueen was awarded the inaugural artistic commission of the Copyright Agency’s Copyright Agency Partnerships three-year series. The series, awarded in partnership with the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne, and the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, is worth {{AUD|80,000}}, and designed to support mid-career and established visual artists with a commission and a solo exhibition.{{cite web | title=TextaQueen is awarded the inaugural Copyright Agency Partnerships $80,000 commission with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art | website=Copyright Agency | date=10 August 2021 | url=https://www.copyright.com.au/2021/08/textaqueen-is-awarded-the-inaugural-copyright-agency-partnerships-80000-commission-with-4a-centre-for-contemporary-asian-art/ | access-date=19 September 2021}}
Current practice
TextaQueen lives in New York City and Carlton, Victoria, and {{as of|lc=y|December 2018}} works on Boon wurrung and Wurundjeri country. {{as of|2021}} they are referred to as simply TextaQueen.{{cite web | title=Textaqueen | website=Textaqueen | url=http://textaqueen.com/ | access-date=22 September 2021}}
Notes
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References
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External links
- {{Official website|textaqueen.com}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:21st-century Australian artists
Category:University of Western Australia alumni
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