Shadow Boxer Panel Discussion

Chaired by artist and boxer Abdul Abdullah and featuring artists Karla Dickens, Richard Lewer and boxer Bianca ‘Bam Bam’ Elmir, this panel discussion contemplates the entanglement of boxing and art, and considers how contemporary artists negotiate history, culture, gender, physicality and folklore in their work.

All welcome, children under 14 years must be accompanied by an adult.

Maitland Regional Art Gallery is a wheelchair accessible venue.

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Abdul Abdullah is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist born in Perth and living in Sydney. Abdullah competed as an amateur boxer in his youth and worked as a trainer at a boxing gym in Perth from 2005-2014. As a seventh-generation Muslim Australian, his practice reflects ideas of displacement, diaspora and migration.

Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens draws upon her Indigenous heritage, sexuality and life experiences as a single mother, and uses recycled everyday items to explore notions of persistence amid inherent violence and misunderstanding. Aspects of Dickens recent work exhibited in the Sydney Biennale NIRIN and A Dickensian Circus at the Art Gallery of South Australia for Monster Theatres, were acquired for the Maitland Regional Art Gallery collection.

Richard Lewer was born in New Zealand and lives and works in Melbourne. His practice encompasses a broad range of media including painting, drawing, animation, video and performance to deal with the dramas and tragedies of everyday life, found in sport, crime and religion. Alongside his art practice, he is a trainer at the Northside Boxing Gym, Preston.

Bianca Elmir is a professional boxer from the Central Coast. She is a multiple amateur and professional champion, representing Australia in major competitions all over the world. In addition to boxing, Bianca is passionate about giving back to her community and has worked as a youth mentor, women’s empowerment coach and in the disability sector. Bianca balances a busy schedule studying a master’s in social work, boxing and running an NDIS service provider on the Coast.

Image: Karla Dickens, Pound-for-Pound #3 (detail), 2019, mixed media, 161 x 41 x 41cm, Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2020.

The Shadow Boxer exhibition is supported by The Dobell Exhibition Grant, funded by The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and Managed by Museums & Galleries of NSW.