Susan Norrie (b. 1953) explores political and environmental issues through installation, photography and video. Norrie trained at the National Art School and the Victorian College of the Arts before being included in a group exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1980. The gallery bought one of her paintings in 1983, and the following year her works were included in the Australian Visions: 1984 Exxon International Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Since her first overseas artist-in-residency in New York in 1990 she has been represented in solo and group shows around the world. Known initially for her painting, in the late 1990s Norrie began experimenting with the moving image, including her iconic six-channel video installation, Undertow (2002). Norrie represented Australia at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 and was a recipient of the Australia Council Visual Arts Award in 2019.
Throughout her career, Anne Zahalka has produced an ongoing series of artist portraits. Initially her portraits were staged in elaborate settings, such as this portrait of Norrie. The gold brocade curtains, used as a backdrop and draped over the chair, are a nod to traditional portraiture. This portrait was included in a portfolio of images of Australian women artists organised by art dealer Leo Christie as a Cancer Council fundraiser.
Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Anne Zahalka/Copyright Agency, 2024
Leo Christie (10 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Naomi Cass, Director of the Centre of Contemporary Photography, in conversation with Anne Zahalka.
Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.
