Kelly in Drag 2008

ADAM CULLEN (1965-2012)

Kelly in Drag 2008

synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183.0 x 183.0 cm
signed, dated and inscribed verso: "KELLY IN DRAG"/ Adam Cullen 08
signed and dated on stretcher verso: Adam Cullen 08

Provenance:
Metro Gallery, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne

Exhibited:
Adam Cullen - Iron Mask -The Ned Kelly Series, Black Rat Projects, London, 22-29 July 2010, (illus. exhibition catalogue p.9)
How Things Work, Lennox Street Gallery, Melbourne, 12 March - 6 April 2024

Estimate: $40000 - 60000

Result Hammer: $47000

With its striking composition and glossy paintwork, Adam Cullen’s Kelly in Drag 2008 is far removed from the rugged landscape that shaped Ned Kelly into an iconic Australian outlaw. Cullen’s paintings often include individual figures portrayed with a deliberate crudeness that are placed against a saturated background. They are reimagined as emblematic, anonymous figures of everyday Australian culture and as part of Cullen's own personal mantra: the boxer, the outlaw, the gangster, the policeman, the cocktail girl and the cowboy.

Here, an Akubra rests atop Kelly’s weathered face while his untamed beard is tucked into the high, frilly neckline of a delicate nightdress. This extends past his knees and is paired with pointed black high-heel boots. He is placed in front of a technicolour background, while a noose hangs above a bag with ‘opium’ scribbled on the side.

Beneath Adam Cullen’s often wry humour lies a rich vein of social commentary and nationalistic passion. Building on the legacy of Sidney Nolan, Cullen saw in Ned Kelly a kindred outcast figure, one that mirrored Cullen’s own sense of untamed defiance. With Cullen’s grunge-inspired spirit and his persistent infatuation with violence, Ned Kelly became a natural and enduring symbol for the artist throughout his oeuvre. He appeared in numerous paintings from the mid-2000s onward, either standing alone or alongside curated objects. Kelly in Drag may have been inspired by Peter Carey’s controversial novel, True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), which depicted Kelly and his fellow bushrangers dressing in women’s clothes to evade police.  Cullen’s reimagination of Kelly as a contemporary drag queen emphasises the symbolic nature of the bushranger’s persona in Australian popular culture – free from time and place and re-envisioned by successive generations.    

In 1999, critic Bruce James described Cullen’s style as ‘a creole of perceptions, correct in themselves but incorrectly articulated’, with a ‘material coarseness calculated to offend the sensibilities of anyone who favours surface effects over subliminal content.’(1) Cullen’s fascination with advertising and commercial television contributed to the lurid colour schemes of his work. The blank canvas was his greatest adversary and the root of his many anxieties. He painted at night, knowing he would be undisturbed.(2) Each painting began with a series of spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness sketches. He established the groundwork using vibrant colours and dynamic, gestural brushstrokes. Later, black outlines and slogans were added, demonstrating his background as a cartoonist. The black not only contains the spectrum of colours but also brings his characters to life, imbuing his protagonists with an undertone of menace.

Footnotes

1. James, B., ‘Finding Diamonds in the Rough’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 13 July 1999, p.12
2. ‘How Things Work: An Exhibition of Historical Artworks by Adam Cullen’, Lennox St Gallery, Melbourne, accessed March 2025: https://lennoxst.gallery/exhibitions/13-how-things-work-adam-cullen/

Clementine Retallack

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