Spot the Difference

Penrith Regional Art Gallery

2024

Perched as guardians of their domain, with golden canines flashing, are six black panthers crafted by Billy Bain. He uses these big cats as conduits to channel his feelings about his displacement from the traditional lands of his ancestors, the Boorooberongal people. One panther, notably adorned with a golden mask bearing the artist’s likeness, reinforces Bain’s connection to the mysterious Lithgow black panther – a creature whose existence has never been confirmed, despite claims of sightings over decades. Bain aligns himself with the elusive panther – strong, capable of blending into the shadows, yet undeniably present.

Bain critically interrogates Australian identity by engaging with colonial narratives and subtly undermining them. In this case, he humorously alludes to the Penrith region as being defined by its association with the local football team, the Penrith Panthers, whose success is a source of regional pride. From the area simultaneously champions Indigenous resistance by referencing the American Black Panther Party, a political organisation that influenced Bla(c)k Power consciousness among Australian Indigenous peoples.