An exhibition that celebrates the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on the nation’s identity opened at Warwick Art Gallery on Thursday 17 February.
The pub rock phenomenon spread across Australia throughout the 70s and 80s, resulting in an evolution of music that has had an enduring impact on Australia’s identity and culture.
Numerous Australian bands cultivated their style and their followings in urban pubs, making these venues – some now long-gone – integral to the evolution of Australian rock and pop music.
For the artists documenting this distinct cultural moment, the line between fan and portraitist was naturally blurred.
Pub Rock celebrates the people, places, scenes and sounds defining 1970s and 1980s Australia.
Drawn primarily from the Gallery’s collection and enriched with works by leading Australian music photographers including Tony Mott and Wendy McDougall, Pub Rock will feature staged portraits and publicity shots alongside images captured during unguarded moments and the grungy energy of live performances.
National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM said the exhibition celebrates one of the aspects of Australian culture that many have missed during lockdown.
“The very essence of live music is about people coming together, in close confines, to listen and celebrate a common interest,” Karen said.
“We wanted to capture some of the excitement and energy of the pub rock scene.”
The exhibition includes pioneering 1960s performers such as The Easybeats, Little Pattie and Johnny O’Keefe, moving through to the early nineties via ground-breaking Australian punk; the bluesy, guitar-driven rock of the 1970s; the synthesised pop of the 1980s; and the sunburnt settings of music festivals and protest rallies.
Featuring internationally successful homegrown performers like AC/DC, INXS, Nick Cave, The Bee Gees and The Divinyls, the exhibition also explores the strident activism inherent in the music of Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly and Us Mob, and the enduring appeal of hard rock anthems penned by the likes of Cold Chisel, The Angels and Men at Work.
Warwick Art Gallery is FREE to enter.
It is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.
Pub Rock is on 17 February to 16 March 2022.
This exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.
