In 1980s Australia, Ken Done’s designs were ubiquitous. Every home had a teatowel, donna or duffle bag adorned with one of his brightly coloured designs – yet, Done still felt like an outsider. Despite being among the country’s most beloved artists, his work had not entered the public collection, reflecting the schism between what people and the institutions of art. While this division runs deeper than Done, four decades later he has been solidified as a bonafide icon, his exuberant visual world impossible to resist.
Ken Done 'Figure Noir #1 & #2’
In a way that most artists strive for but never reach, Done gave vision to the zeitgeist. His saturated visions of Sydney and its culture encapsulated the optimism of the 1980s. When he returned from a decade in London as the Creative Director of an advertising agency, the first thing that struck Done was the quality of the Sydney sun – an unabating brilliance that recurs throughout his work. He is inspired by Henri Matisse too, an influence that lives through his serene figures.
Done’s achievements are vast and undeniable. As a designer, he won the Fashion Industries of Australia Grand award in 1993 and completed commissions for the 1988 World Exposition and 2000 Sydney Olympics. As an artist, he has been a multi-time finalist in the Archibald, Wynne, Sulman and Dobell prizes, completed a commission for the National Portrait Gallery, and his archives have been acquired by Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. Perhaps most striking however, is how he played with and denied the division between art and design. Whether a painting or t-shirt, he wants the viewer to rejoice in the sweetness of life.
In the glow of his work, we may sense a distance between Done’s vision of Australia and its reality, but the seduction remains. His legacy is unquestionable – an assertion that art and living is about pleasure. On art, he declares “you need to love it when you first look at it.” What more could be asked for.
