John Donegan
Broken Creek : Evolution
14 Feb - 25 Feb 2024
G2
Opening Night
Friday 16 Feb | 6 - 8pm
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Evolution is the second in the Broken Creek Trilogy by John Donegan.
In Evolution, Donegan further explores his evolving relationship with the native bush and waterways of Yorta Yorta country.
This collection also represents Donegan’s personal evolution as he comes to terms with the notions of solitude and patience which are required to sit calmly and quietly in the landscape; drifting and melting and blending into the natural surrounds.
Donegan has blended multiple images to create each unique piece.
The artist recognises that this work has been made on unceded, stolen Yorta Yorta Country, and endeavours to honour the victims of settlement by focussing on the pre-colonial landscape. Always was, always will be.
Artist Bio
John Donegan is an Australian artist and former photojournalist who has exhibited widely. He is
known for his photography that captures the beauty and rhythm of everyday life, as well as his multimedia compositions that explore the landscapes of Yorta Yorta country.
Donegan was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and grew up in the suburbs. He was inspired by the writings of Australian authors like David Malouf and George Johnston, who turned ordinary scenes into something magical.
He sold his first photograph to a newspaper at the age of 14 and pursued a career in photojournalism. He worked for The Herald Sun and The Age in Melbourne, The Evening Standard and The Guardian in London, Associated Press, Getty Images and other media outlets, covering events and stories in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
He won two Walkley Awards for his photography while working for the Herald Sun. He also broke new ground as a multimedia reporter for radio station 702 ABC Sydney, providing photography and reporting for the station's website and live on air.
After 35 years as a photojournalist, he moved to country Victoria and turned his camera to the
native landscapes around the waterways of the Broken Creek. He also started painting, using watercolour, acrylics and oils to create abstract multimedia works.
He has exhibited his works in solo and group shows at Red Gallery in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Stanley Street Gallery in Sydney and other venues. His photographic practice was notable for the beauty in the menial and ordinary rhythms of everyday life that he found, often highlighting the seemingly unimportant, insignificant, or unseen.
Photojournalism was the perfect career for his madness. The chaos of the newsroom allowed him to thrive. His mania was to be a significant driver throughout his career while making pictures provided a safe space as he crashed into depression.
He learned about mindfulness while hospitalised and realised that every time he picked up a camera, he was practicing mindfulness. Grounded; in the moment; outward looking.
Now that he has been diagnosed and appropriately medicated, being alone is a joy for Donegan, and he has turned his camera to the native landscapes around the waterways of Yorta Yorta country.
Sitting in the bush around the Broken Creek, he allows it to reveal itself: different in each hour, different in each season, all various moods of the same being.
His recovery has required him to confront the traumas buried in the shadows of his life, to be vulnerable, and to embrace the full gamut of emotions that he once evaded.
The Broken Creek represents a change in subject matter that mirrors his changed mental state: peaceful, contemplative, with a myriad of details in the deepest shadows.
Donegan remains as enthused and energised by the art of photography today as he was on the 19 August 1985, when he walked nervously through the brass and glass doors of The Herald and Weekly Times.
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
