The bright, distinctive patterns of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson’s designs are a pioneering part of Australian fashion history. The creative partners took inspiration from figures such as Sonia Delaunay, the French artist and designer who co-founded Orphism, a movement that revolved around light and colour, with her husband Robert.

“The importance of Sonia to the development story of these two artists was really pivotal, and is something that hasn’t been looked at in isolation,” says Simeran Maxwell, the National Gallery of Australia’s Associate Curator of Australian Art. “She’s one of the very first people who promoted early art fashion, which was some-thing that was key to Linda and Jenny’s career—this idea that fashion is more than just clothes.”

Delaunay’s work, including prints and textiles, will be shown alongside Kee and Jackson’s to highlight this enduring influence. The show focuses on the early part of Kee and Jackson’s career, from the mid-70s to the early 80s, drawing from their archives.

There was so much material to work with that in November, another iteration of the show will be installed. “[Delaunay is] so well-known for her very colourful geometric patterns, but she also did this series of black-and-white designs,” Maxwell says. “The first one is this riot of colour, and the second is slightly more monochromatic. It’ll show them in a different light.”

Through the presentation of the show, Maxwell subverts the way in which influences are examined. “We’ll be showing Jenny and Linda’s work in the show-cases in the front, and then behind them we’ll be showing Sonia’s,” she says. “I like the idea of interpreting international artists through the lens of Australian artists, rather than the opposite way, where we compare the Australian to the international as lesser.”

Know My Name: Kee, Jackson and Delaunay
National Gallery of Australia
Ongoing from 22 March

This article was originally published in the March/April 2025 print edition of Art Guide Australia.