Jacqui Stockdale: The Outlaws’ Inn

Image:
Jacqui STOCKDALE
‘The Outlaws’ Inn’ [Linden New Art installation view]   2020
Image courtesy of the artist
Photo: Theresa Harrison Photography

28th Oct – 29th Jan 2023
Simpson Gallery

Contemporary Benalla remains coloured by Ned Kelly history and mythology in equal parts. For artist Jacqui Stockdale—who was raised in Benalla before moving to Wangaratta in her teens to study Art—recent work has been “propelled by a question I asked myself as a young girl riding bareback through the hills of ‘Kelly country’… what really happened here?”

This line of questioning resulted in The Long Shot (2020), a body of work which used the Kelly story as a backdrop to revisit and redress dominant narratives of Australian colonial folklore. Stockdale’s practice regularly engages cultural identity, folklore narratives, masquerade and anthropological complexities—all evident in The Outlaws’ Inn, a life size diorama first shown as part of The Long Shot at Linden New Art, developed further for Benalla audiences.

The installation evokes the feeling of entering The Ann Jones Inn, Glenrowan, and was described by Linden New Art Curator Juliette Hanson as “a macabre party of the in- laws and outlaws that surrounded the Kelly family…This highly theatrical scene is laced with a dark humour and Stockdale invites us to sit with Ma Kelly to watch this grisly, animated life-size diorama.”

Stockdale speaks of an intent to create an environment where visitors “feel privy to a siege, a wake, or a bushranger’s family reunion.” While The Ann Jones Inn no longer stands, it was famously the site at which the Kelly Gang ‘imprisoned’ 62 locals without resistance. As the hours passed waiting for the constabulary’s train, the Gang are believed to have insisted on drinks being poured, and for everyone to enjoy music, singing and dancing.

The Outlaws’ Inn is also inspired by what the artist fondly describes as “the most bizarre place”, The Glenrowan Tourist Centre. Having made numerous research trips, Stockdale acknowledges the support of the owners who generously spent time showing her through the animatronic attraction, including behind-the-scenes sections.

The artwork’s soundtrack includes the sounds of singing, dancing, laughing, horses in the distance, and a corroboree, with Stockdale having consulted with Pangerang Elder, Uncle Freddie, about Indigenous histories connected to the story.

Jacqui Stockdale now lives and works from Melbourne. She is well known for her staged theatrical portrait photography, figurative paintings and drawings, and surreal collage work. More recent works such as The Outlaws’ Inn explore animated life-size assemblages, haunting soundscapes, and vaudeville performance. Stockdale returns to Benalla Art Gallery following her highly successful 2016 survey exhibition, Familija.

Stockdale’s work is held in significant public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of South Australia, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery.

Jacqui Stockdale: The Outlaws’ Inn is presented as part of the Benalla Festival—celebrating Our Community, Our Future.