From one of Australia’s most celebrated arts writers, Louise Martin-Chew, comes Fiona Foley Provocateur: An Art Life—a biography of the life and work of leading Badtjala artist, Fiona Foley.
This unique biography provides readers with insight into the life of the artist: from her beginnings in Hervey Bay, Queensland, her young adult life in Sydney where she co-founded Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-Operative in 1986, to her rise through the art world and, most recently, into an academic life. Martin-Chew allows us to see how Foley’s life has impacted on her art, and her art on her life. It explores the artist’s familial relations, her ancestral home of K’Gari/ Fraser Island, and her unique approach to artmaking and teaching. The book delicately captures the art and activism of this provocateur. It’s a triumph in story-telling and reveals that there is no art without life.