The legendary black panther stalks into Penrith
Anna Louise Richardson, On the hunt (installation view), 2017, charcoal, acrylic, pastel and glow in the dark acrylic on cement fibreboard, 215 x 345cm. Courtesy the artist.
Is it a myth or is it reality, the infamous and elusive panther said to roam Penrith, the Blue Mountains and beyond? Penrith Regional Gallery is proud to present a major exhibition Spot the Difference from 9 November 2024 to 16 February 2025, with original commissioned works examining the modern myth of the Blue Mountains panther, not only as a symbol of mystery and intrigue, but as a foundational story for the evolving identity of Penrith and its communities.
The Gallery has invited 18 artists from Penrith, Western Sydney and beyond to present new or existing bodies of work that connect with the mythology and iconography of the panther, or engage with the cultural and social functions of myth and storytelling in contemporary culture.
Stories of the panther in NSW have been reported for more than a century; in the past 20 years sightings have increased dramatically, locally and across Australia. Government enquiries have investigated, videos, photos and giant paw prints held up as evidence, eye witness accounts documented, yet no one seems closer to conclusively proving the existence of these wild animals living in close proximity to humans.
The image of the panther has become synonymous with a sense of place and pride for local residents across Western Sydney. This includes its powerful association with the Penrith Panthers and its passionate local fans who have been rewarded seeing their team win four successive premierships from 2021 to their recent hard-fought triumph in 2024.
Spot the Difference draws a connection between the resurgence of the panther myth, its prevalence within the region’s visual landscape, from the NRL Club to local business names and logos, and the role myth plays in contemporary society around community building. The panther is also considered as a metaphor for colonisation, adaptation and migration, as an introduced species most probably first brought to Australia by boat, that has adapted, spread and now appears to roam the land unchecked.
Participating artists are Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Billy Bain, Daniel Boyd, Shannon Boyd, Blak Douglas, Troy Emery, Lyndal Irons, Claudia Nicholson, Jason Phu & Maja Baska (joint project), Anna Louise Richardson, Kate Rohde, Osselan Tupai Scanlan, Regina Walter, Chris Whiticker & Linda Brescia (joint project).
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Big Cat sculpture in-pgrogress
Acclaimed West Australian-based artists Anna Louise Richardson and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah have long had a fascination with animals and death in their respective practices. ‘It started after I read a book by Tim Winton, In the Winter Dark’, said Anna Louise. ‘It's about that feeling of some malevolent force in nature, then linked to that were the myths about the Nannup tiger around the southwest of WA. For me I found it captures that feeling of being uneasy in the bush. It's a way for people to explore a complex, and sometimes fraught relationship with the Australian bush.’
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Big Cat
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah commented how it’s ‘tied into that vastness of the Australian landscape and the well-founded fear that always accompanies a land that has been invaded and occupied. Our relationship to the bush as non-Indigenous people has never been comfortable. And there’s a certain hostility to the Australian landscape, it’s a vast, beautiful and ancient landscape, but harsh and unforgiving.
‘We live on Anna’s family farm so we're surrounded by bushland. The view from every window goes to bush at some point across the paddocks so it's very easy to get that sense of being watched. It may come down to very simple explanations of foxes and other animals in the dark, but there is always that extra sense of vigilance that pops up sometimes. You can feel the bush as a living entity.’
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah's work for the exhibition is titled Big Cat. ‘It’s a beautiful domestic cat curled up, sleeping and calm, but scaled up to apex predator size, so it’s a giant black cat. I love the way we perceive cats as walking contradictions. They're beautiful little domestic fluff balls but at the same time no pet cat is entirely domestic. They're always wild and domestic; the cutest thing in the world as well as this lethal hunter that has never lost its killing skills.’
Images courtesy the artists