A Singular Voice

Essays on Australian Art and Architecture

By Joan Kerr

A Singular Voice: Essays on Australian Art and Architecture is a collection of essays by the controversial and popular Australian art and architecture scholar, Joan Kerr, that have appeared over the past 30 years in a wide variety of scholarly publications, many of which enjoyed only a small distribution. The book brings Kerr’s essays together for the first time, making it an important resource.

Joan Kerr’s interests were wide-ranging and the essays encompass colonial architecture, contemporary Aboriginal art, the ancient remains of a dinosaur in an outback museum display, the forgotten and marginalised of Australian art, and the importance of art in our everyday lives. A Singular Voice is a history of changing attitudes to Australian art and architecture as well as a record of the remarkable career of a woman distinguished by her open mind, her infectious enthusiasm and her generosity to her peers.

About the Author

Joan Kerr (1938-2004) was an art and architectural historian, critic, exhibition curator, lecturer and prolific writer, a witty and erudite public speaker and a committed feminist. Her meticulous research resulted in the major publications: The Dictionary of Australian Artists: Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870 and Heritage: The National Women’s Art Book. Joan’s many awards include a posthumous AM at the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

304 pages, paperback, 22 (w) x 26.5 (h) cm, 11 colour and 44 duotone images, index.

Published with the assistance of the Getty Foundation, the Gordon Darling Foundation and the Nelson Meers Foundation.