Bruno Booth: Feline Good. Howabout Body Shots?

Bruno Booth

Bruno has used a wheelchair for most of his life, interrupted by a short and unsuccessful career as an amateur stilt walker when he used prosthetic legs as a child. In his memory these leather and metal devices would not have been out of place on the set of some dystopian, apocalyptic epic – not in a cool and attractive Fury Road sort of way, more like the zombies in the original Walking Dead.

The experience of wearing restrictive equipment left him with a dislike of tight-fitting clothing, a love of speed and a need to reach over his head in supermarkets. As a child he made the decision to use a wheelchair as his primary mode of transport – and he’s never looked back (probably because he’s too busy looking out for sand pits on dark footpaths).

Having a disability has been a constant background hum throughout Bruno’s life. Kind of like a social tinnitus – you know it’s there but you try not to talk about it. It was only when he started to call himself an artist, without cringing too much, that he began to engage critically with what it meant to be categorised as disabled. 

Recent solo exhibitions include Dead ends and detours Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, WA (2023, upcoming), Body Shots Goolugatup/Heathcote, WA (2019), 2019 Push it, push it (real good) Firstdraft, NSW (2019). Bruno has also presented major public participatory projects for the Fremantle Biennale (TIGHTNESS x TOUGHNESS, 2021) and Testing Grounds (Hostile Infrastructure, 2019).

In 2022 he was a finalist in the John Stringer Art prize and a Facilitating Artist for Performing Lines Kolyang Artist Hub and is currently working towards a major commission for the Art Gallery of Western Australia.