Exhibition | hegoart

WYNNE PRIZE 2025

"Zeitgeist" by HEGO

synthetic polymer paint on iPhone

12.5 x 6 cm

During a weekend in Gerringong on the NSW south coast, HEGO was struck by the beauty of the sunrise and early morning birdsong as he sat on a headland overlooking the beach. Promptly photographing and videoing the scene on his phone, he shared it to an Instagram story, then paused. How often do we experience the natural world indirectly, through screens?

With Zeitgeist, HEGO playfully acknowledges this phenomenon, and knows that viewers will engage with his artwork in a way that confirms this status quo: by photographing it and sharing it online. Interested in readymade sculptures and working with found objects, the artist was inspired to paint on an old phone screen after running out of canvas. While art can imitate nature, HEGO maintains that some things are impossible to re-create: ‘scale and temperature, feet in the grass, ocean spray, morning sunrise’. ‘I challenge you to walk outside and experience nature in real life,’ he says, ‘and walk inside an art gallery and see art in real life too.’

PADDINGTON LANDSCAPE

ART PRIZE 2024

"Parapet" by HEGO

60 x 60 cm

Acrylic on Canvas

Initially one sees a daytime view looking up at the “North and south heads” on Sydney harbour. When flipped 180 degrees the viewer sees a night time view , down towards the harbour immediately adjacent to the heads , from a parapet at “Middle head”:a series of military trenches & canons installed by the colony to repel invading armies, post 1788. This anamorphic painting transports the viewer to different times & use of land pre and post colonisation, through morphosis. A myriad of perspectives, past & present tense, literal and figurative,day vs night & man made vs natural protective barriers

ARCHIBALD PRIZE 2022

"OA" by HEGO

Aacrylic and watercolour on canvas

40.7 x 30.5 cm

A Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Gummaroi man, born in Melbourne, Reko Rennie is an interdisciplinary artist whose provocative work explores Indigenous culture and identity in contemporary urban environments.‘

Reko creates artwork inspired by American street culture of the ’70s and ’80s that also incorporates traditional symbols of his heritage. His work is engaging, yet powerfully subversive and deeply personal,’ says HEGO, a first-time Archibald finalist.‘I’m in awe of how his bright, evocative imagery draws you in, only to then whack you in the teeth with a tonne of raw emotion and confronting historical truths.

I asked Reko to be my sitter as his unconventional trajectory resonated with me, in that neither of us studied art.‘For the portrait, I wanted his stare to reflect his confidence, while the necklace he designed and wore to the sitting emphasises his old-school roots and contemporary artistic activism,’ says HEGO. ‘“OA” (Original Aboriginal) is Reko’s riff on the term “OG” (Original Gangsta).

It is a reference to the hip-hop music he loved growing up, where OG is a title bestowed on someone deserving respect. Today, he uses this play on words to celebrate First Nations people and raise questions of sovereignty.’

DOUBLE TAKE (2019)