Nationality Australian Role Artist | Name Van Rudd Known for Contemporary art | |
Born 1973 (age 41–42) Queensland, Australia Movement Political satire, performance art Education University of Melbourne Faculty of VCA and MCM | ||
football v tony abbott no2
Van Thanh Rudd (born 1973) is an Australian artist, activist and the nephew of Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. His artworks have created controversies due to their left-wing political content. Rudd is also a member of Socialist Alternative. He was formerly a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and contested the seat of Lalor in the 2010 federal election against Prime Minister Julia Gillard through the RSP, an unregistered party. He polled very poorly, generating 0.50% of the vote. Rudd studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, RMIT University and Griffith University.
Contents
- football v tony abbott no2
- Personal life
- Hugo Chavez mural
- Banksy homage
- Connex controversy
- Used car part from an Afghan civilian car
- Anti racism protest
- Relationship with Kevin Rudd
- 2010 federal election
- References
Personal life
Rudd was born in Nambour, Queensland, to Malcolm Rudd (the brother of Kevin Rudd) and Tuoi, and now resides in Footscray, Melbourne. He has a partner of Chilean heritage, Tania; daughter, Loyola; and son, Manolo. Rudd says that his leftist political awakening came after meeting his partner, whose family fled Chile after General Augusto Pinochet deposed the elected socialist Salvador Allende and began violently targeting leftists.
Hugo Chavez mural
In 2007 Rudd created an artwork depicting a large mural on a gallery wall at Trocadero Art Space in Footscray with signatories of Australians who supported a visit to the country by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. It was titled "Smells Like Sulphur: A Tribute to Venezuela and the Art of Telling Bush to Piss Off", referencing Chavez' UN General Assembly speech the previous year, when he called former US President George W. Bush "the devil".
Banksy homage
In 2008 the City of Melbourne rejected a painting by Rudd depicting Ronald McDonald setting fire to Thich Quang Duc with the Olympic torch. According to Rudd, the artwork was a homage to British street artist Banksy and a comment on human rights abuses in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. Rudd accused the City of Melbourne of political censorship which they denied, claiming he was solely picked to feature in the Ho Chi Minh City exhibition for his Vietnamese heritage.
Connex controversy
In 2009 Rudd made an artwork critical of Connex's parent company Veolia Environnement's light rail contract which is to link Israeli settlements in the West Bank with Jerusalem. The artwork was displayed at Platform Artists Group's public gallery, adjacent to Flinders Street Station, a major train station in Melbourne. Connex threatened Rudd with legal action over his use of a similar font and colour-scheme to the company's logo and the Anti-Defamation League accused the gallery of racism. The Electronic Intifada claimed that Rudd's artwork was a boost to the campaign against Connex and Veolia – a part of the general Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel – whose contract to run Melbourne trains expired in November 2009.
Used car part from an Afghan civilian car
IN 2009 Rudd exhibited in Melbourne a used part from an Afghan civilian car, purportedly destroyed by an International Security Assistance Force missile in Southern Afghanistan. It accompanied a price tag of $1.2 billion. Rudd estimated the value based on what he believed was "the astronomical price paid by victims of war". He broke down the multi-trillion dollar US war budget for the Middle East since 2001 and included other variables such as the cost of wounded civilians and soldiers.
Anti-racism protest
On Australia Day 2010, Rudd and RSP member, Sam King, dressed in Ku Klux Klan outfits with the signs "Racism – Made in Australia" in front of the outfits, outside the Rod Laver Arena during the Australian Open to protest the refusal of the Victorian Government to treat the attacks on Indians in Victoria as racially-motivated and also the federal government's policies towards asylum seekers. Rudd and King were arrested within 10 minutes and charged with inciting a riot. Rudd also told the Indian weekly newsmagazine Outlook that the "dominant culture in Australia is a racist culture."
Relationship with Kevin Rudd
In a 2010 interview on 3AW, Kevin Rudd expressed to Neil Mitchell that he was not a fan of his nephew's political views but supported the notion of free speech in Australia, adding, "[you] can choose your friends but...". According to a member of the RSP, the PM and his nephew are not in regular contact. In a later 2010 Fairfax radio interview, on the same subject Kevin Rudd stated: "Do I agree in any way with what he's done? No I don't, absolutely." Rudd was the subject of an episode of ABC program Australian Story, broadcast in August 2010, which reported his uncle had been invited to appear, but declined.
2010 federal election
Rudd contested the seat of Lalor for the House of Representatives in the 2010 federal election against Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the unregistered RSP. This signals the RSP's failure to generate the 500-member minimum required by the Victorian Electoral Commission to register as an official political party. He garnered a total of 516 votes, scoring 0.50% of the overall vote, with a +0.50% swing. This placed him as the second least preferred candidate, ahead of regional tourism developer, Marc Aussie-Stone, compared to Gillard as first preference, who garnered 66,060 votes, scoring 64.26% of the overall vote, with a +4.37% swing. The artist claimed on an ABC radio interview his reason for running in the election was that the appointment of Gillard as PM marked "a more conservative path for Labor" and that she was "influenced by the mining magnates... [and] the conservative unions".