Joan Morrison was one of Australia’s most successful pin-up artists and often trod a fine line between parody and pandering to her audience’s prejudices. The gormless Second World War digger in this pin-up symbolises an entitled and triumphalist mindset of a nation that has reasserted itself as a colonial master and a victor in war. His Papuan ‘mascot’ can be seen as a metaphor—representing, among other things, the sexual experience amassed by Australian servicemen during their military service.
ON LOAN COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ART92684
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