Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of culture identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle categorisation.

After being racistly expelled from school at age fourteen, Onus worked as a mechanic and activist, before teaching himself to draw. He forged a style that combined photo-realism, surrealism and indigenous iconography. Not only was this reflective of his heritage, it also represented his attitude at large, which championed reconciliation over alienation.

In ‘Pawns – Yellow, Onus depicts a chess board in the colours of the Aboriginal flag – red, yellow and black. He is making a political statement, alluding to how White Australia has treated Aboriginal peoples as pawns in their colonial agenda. As always, the result is tongue in cheek, playing with perspective, history and identity.

Detailed, multi-coloured and impeccably composed, ‘Pawns – Yellow’ testifies to an artist whose artistic vision was only matched by his activism. Caught between different worlds, Onus wrote in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation in most major Australian collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has.

For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, uncover new possibilities with ‘Pawns – Yellow’.

Lin ONUS (1948 - 1996) & Tiriki ONUS
'Pawns—Yellow' 1996
screenprint on paper
Image Size: 41 x 61 cm
Dimensions: 56 x 76 cm
Signed: Signed 'Onus' by son Tiriki, titled, and numbered in pencil in margin below image: A.P. Pawns—Yellow Onus; bears the seal of The Estate of Lin Onus lower right.
Comes with Letter of Provenance

This work was commissioned by the Lin Onus Estate to commemorate a small black and white linocut made by Onus in 1986. It illustrates Onus's activism, celebrating the colours of the Aboriginal Flag.

Condition is Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) Lin Onus / Copyright Agency