The Australian contemporary artist Daniel Boyd is the subject of the solo exhibition RAINBOW SERPENT (VERSION), held at Berlin’s Gropius Bau. Marking the artist’s first large-scale solo exhibition in Europe, RAINBOW SERPENT (VERSION) showcases 44 paintings and two monumental installations that provide a comprehensive overview of Boyd’s reinterpretation of Eurocentric narratives that have dominated Australian history.

The title of the exhibition, ‘Rainbow Serpent,’ comes from a term that generalizes the various birth stories of different Aboriginal peoples. While the term fails to embrace the cultures’ plurality and multiplicity, Boyd highlights the diversity and individuality of Australia's indigenous peoples by adding the word 'version' behind it.

Works on view display Boyd’s signature technique, inspired by the French philosopher Édouard Glissant. As the canvases are overlaid with clear, convex dots of glue, then covered using black ink, Boyd’s paintings create a visual illusion, making it seem as if the images are resonating. This sparks discourse on Glissant’s thoughts on the ‘right to opacity’—the right to remain undefined by the hegemony of Western conceptions. Meanwhile, the nonlinear exhibition space, which encourages visitors to experience the show following various paths, also represents the artist’s resistance to cultural homogenization. 

RAINBOW SERPENT (VERSION), which runs through July 9th, 2023, is co-curated by Stephaine Rosenthal, director of Gropius Bau, and curator Carolin Köchling.