La Trobe University Museum of Art

Fear of a Brown Planet 2007 screen print & acrylic on belgian linen 2.3x3.7m

This major artwork was recently acquired by La Trobe University Museum of Art. Here's what they had to say about it.

Since his first solo exhibition in 2004 Chavez has emerged as a highly regarded mixed media artist working in multiple genres, and this year is a finalist in the Archibald Portrait Prize with his portrait of acclaimed Aboriginal artist and activist Richard Bell. Working in what is described as a 'post graffiti' style, Chavez blends photography, screenprinting, paint and graffiti elements to explore important themes of identity, cultural heritage and the unsettling aspects of contemporary experience. In the monumental work Fear Of A Brown Planet 2007 Chavez incorporates a blown up version of his own primary school class photograph to convey the experiences of displacement and real and imagined racism. La Trobe University Museum of Art