Art and Race: The Strange Case of Eddie Burrup

Abstract

Elizabeth Durack, a white Australian artist, produced an extended series of paintings in Aboriginal style that she promoted as being done by Eddie Burrup, a fictitious persona she devised. Upon admitting the subterfuge, she was strongly criticized, but she never apologized, justifying her action through her extensive contact with Aboriginal people and their art. This article examines the reaction against Durack in light of postcolonial perspectives on the forgery of Indigenous artworks, and relates the discussion to the larger context of the phenomenon of “passing” as a person of color.