National Gallery of Australia acquires iconic designer collection

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The National gallery of Australia has acquired more than 80 rarely seen works by iconic Australian designers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson. Until now many of the works have been in the artists' personal collections.

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00:00A colourful collaboration spanning decades, Jenny Key and Linda Jackson are two of the

00:08nation's best known fashion icons. One known for her knitwear, the other her vibrant designs.

00:16Finding a new home in Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia has announced its acquisition

00:21of more than 80 of Key and Jackson's works. Some are already on display at the gallery's

00:27Know My Name exhibition. People walk past them on the way to our major exhibition and do

00:33a sort of a double take and they instantly recognise these artists' work. They're so

00:39iconically Australian. It was art that was influencing those knits but tactile because I didn't want

00:48to be an artist on the wall, I wanted my art to be on my body. The collection includes many

00:55early works including jumpers, scarves and jewellery. Until now, many were in storage

01:00in the artists' homes. Mine were often packed in boxes with tissue because some of them

01:06weren't suitable to be hanging on coat hangers as such. So yeah, everything was looked after

01:11with the knowledge that possibly as time went on that something like this could happen.

01:16It's not the first time the gallery has showcased the pair. 40 years ago, Key and Jackson were

01:21the focus of the gallery's first exhibition featuring only female artists. A legacy visitors

01:27are eager to share. We've had a lot of people coming in in their old Jenny Key knits and their

01:33Linda Jackson scarves and having their photos taken in front of the works. I just hope that

01:38people will be completely inspired by nature when they walk away, by art, but realising that

01:48art doesn't have to be on the walls. The exhibition will run until July next year.

01:54When that began to happen and the whole overall discovery for me was awesome and I became...

02:00...

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