Judgement By His Peers, 1978

oil on canvas

75 x 105 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: The Collection of Gordon and Elaine Syron, NSW
Artwork story: Judgement By His Peers is in my view a national icon. The Hon Robert Tickner MP, Minister For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs 18 Sept. 1995 The painting was painted in Long Bay Gaol and first hung in the artist’s cell where he was serving a life sentence for a death that was the result of tribal retribution. It was shown publically for the first time at an exhibition on Eveleigh St. Redfern at Murawina,(means Black Woman), a childcare centre in 1978-79. The exhibition was arranged by three of the seminal women working with children on the ‘block’, Mrs Bostock, Mrs Merritt, and Mrs Ingram. The block was a hotbed of discontent at this time yet according to the artist: Not one car was touched. All who came were safe. Many law people attended. I came out of prison for the evening to attend my own art exhibition and a prison officer accompanied me. He said just call me Jack for the evening instead of Sir! The painting was initially exhibited under the title , "The Real Australian Story". The artist was quoted about its subject as saying: I believe I would not have been sentenced at all, had I been judged by an Aboriginal jury. In British law a man is judged by his peers. In explaining the background to this work Gordon Syron has said: This painting is my most meaningful work. It is the story of my life. This trial happened to me. I challenged the jury system of Australia. I asked that I be judged by my peers and your peers are your equals. I asked to have some Aboriginal people on my jury. One lawyer said that I wasn't black enough to be black and the other lawyer said that I wasn't white enough to be white. They then argued this point in front of me for sometime. Both my parents were Aboriginal. It was such an insult to me and my family. I was judged by an all-white jury. (If you are a pink fella then according to British law and now Australian law you are entitled to have a pink person on the jury). I served a life sentence. The painting instantly struck a chord with Aboriginal audiences given their high rates of incarceration at the time. Two decades later Aboriginal people still made up 15.2% of the prison population in NSW, though they were only 2% of the general population .

Stockroom

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Gordon Syron

b. 1941

Region: South-East Australia
Community: Nabiac
Language group: Birpi (Biripi); Worimi

Judgement By His Peers, 1978

oil on canvas

75 x 105 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: The Collection of Gordon and Elaine Syron, NSW
Artwork story: Judgement By His Peers is in my view a national icon. The Hon Robert Tickner MP, Minister For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs 18 Sept. 1995 The painting was painted in Long Bay Gaol and first hung in the artist’s cell where he was serving a life sentence for a death that was the result of tribal retribution. It was shown publically for the first time at an exhibition on Eveleigh St. Redfern at Murawina,(means Black Woman), a childcare centre in 1978-79. The exhibition was arranged by three of the seminal women working with children on the ‘block’, Mrs Bostock, Mrs Merritt, and Mrs Ingram. The block was a hotbed of discontent at this time yet according to the artist: Not one car was touched. All who came were safe. Many law people attended. I came out of prison for the evening to attend my own art exhibition and a prison officer accompanied me. He said just call me Jack for the evening instead of Sir! The painting was initially exhibited under the title , "The Real Australian Story". The artist was quoted about its subject as saying: I believe I would not have been sentenced at all, had I been judged by an Aboriginal jury. In British law a man is judged by his peers. In explaining the background to this work Gordon Syron has said: This painting is my most meaningful work. It is the story of my life. This trial happened to me. I challenged the jury system of Australia. I asked that I be judged by my peers and your peers are your equals. I asked to have some Aboriginal people on my jury. One lawyer said that I wasn't black enough to be black and the other lawyer said that I wasn't white enough to be white. They then argued this point in front of me for sometime. Both my parents were Aboriginal. It was such an insult to me and my family. I was judged by an all-white jury. (If you are a pink fella then according to British law and now Australian law you are entitled to have a pink person on the jury). I served a life sentence. The painting instantly struck a chord with Aboriginal audiences given their high rates of incarceration at the time. Two decades later Aboriginal people still made up 15.2% of the prison population in NSW, though they were only 2% of the general population .