Patterns, Maps and Grids

Patterns, Maps and Grids

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Patterns, Maps and Grids

JGM Art Apt. 27 1 Battersea Square London SW11 3RZ

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INTRODUCTION Jennifer Guerrini-Maraldi Drawing from nature and ancient tradition, artists from Maningrida in northern Arnhem Land, produce some of the finest bark painting and carving today.

The stunning natural earth pigments that create the dense black and bright white used by artists for our exhibition is both ancient and contemporary. Personal grids and patterns belong to individual artists painting their “Dreaming” – a unique totem that relates directly to Clan Lands.

Each pattern has one owner; a strong social rule or aboriginal “lore” throughout the region.

Susan Marawarr is a leading young female artist at Maningrida. We are proud to exhibit so many examples of her work. Susan’s grids and dots are bold and dynamic. She comes from a long line of distinguished artists and has already toured the United States with a major exhibition. Her work is represented in many important collections including the National Gallery of Australia.

Samson Bonson produces tiny dots on sturdy black Mimih carvings. He lives and works in the bush with his young family, only occasionally visiting Maningrida. Samson was taught to carve and paint by senior artist Crusoe Kurdal in the 1990s and has since developed his own unique style. The British Museum recently acquired one of his Mimih carvings.

Freddie Timms’ map paintings show aerial views of his country and Bedford Downs Station, in the Kimberley, Western Australia, where he worked as a cattle drover for much of his life.

Freddie is one of today’s best known Indigenous Australian artists, and his work is represented in major public and private collections worldwide.

Esther Giles’ soft pink palette is also a luscious map created with traditional brush marks and dotting. The map or “topography” is not understood by non-aboriginal people and depicts the wise teachings of the elder women to the young ones. The work shows girls where to find water, special grasses, flowers for medicine and other “bush tucker” - all relating to survival in this harsh landscape.

Natalie Holmes Pula uses a fine brush to make her hypnotic patterns taken from native flora and fauna. The patterns are also used for maps of surrounding sand hills and body painting for ceremony.

Henry Skerritt, contemporary writer and expert on Indigenous Australian art says “it is the ability to cross cultural boundaries without forsaking its distinctive identity that makes Aboriginal art some of the most challenging and important contemporary art produced in the world today.”* *in No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting, Prestel 2015

Left - artist Samson Bonson with two of his children and Mimih Spirits

Aboriginal Art from Arnhem Land - A Guide Artists from Arnhem Land have not used modern art materials like many Australian Aboriginal painters from other regions. The primary kind of art from Arnhem Land is painted on wood from local trees using a simple palette of white, yellow, red and black, all of which are derived from natural ochre pigments. It is often remarkable to note the varied parallels between Aboriginal art and Western modernism. This helps explain how Aboriginal art has become regarded as a contemporary art movement like any other, though it is different in that it refers to an unbroken mythological tradition dating back tens of thousands of years.

The connections to Western modernism you find in Arnhem Land are again different to those of other regions of Australia. Here, with a consistent use of highly detailed repetitive patterns, the minimalist procedures of Sol Lewitt and Agnes Martin are evoked. The plethora of spirits and creatures you find have a connection to the strange fantasy worlds of Paul Klee. But these connections are largely coincidental, and Arnhem Land art is grounded in both an extremely rich and varied linguistic and mythological tradition, and in a landscape that differs greatly to the deserts of Western and Central Australia.

Bark Painting In the last half century, artists from Arnhem Land have begun to paint on bark for commercial purposes, using techniques that go back long before European contact in the region. The specific techniques involved with bark painting relate both to the practice of decorating bark shelters built during the rainy season, and to the rock art and body painting traditions. Arnhem Land is one of the most linguistically diverse areas per capita in the world, and this is reflected in the different styles of bark painting, each of which has a specific connection to one particular place or language group.

The bark used to paint on is taken from the stringybark tree which grows in abundance. It is removed during the wet season, when the bark is soft, and is flattened, smoothed and cured in preparation to be painted on. The artists achieve a high level of detail and intricacy in their designs through the use of either a reed brush or a very fine paintbrush.

Mimih Spirits Mimih spirits are a popular kind of sculpture made in Arnhem Land. They can either be carved from wood and then painted, or painted directly onto suitable branches. They are purported to be an adaptation of sculptures used in mortuary ceremonies. Like other forms of art from Arnhem Land, they were regarded by the aboriginal communities as a way of telling their stories and way of life to the outside world. They are both immediately accessible to a wide audience, but also have layered references to cultural tradition to people who are interested to know more.

Hollow Log Coffins The lorrkon or hollow log coffin is also traditionally derived from mortuary ceremonies. These logs, which have been naturally hollowed out by termites, are richly decorated and have traditionally been an important part of sacred rituals.

Today they are an important part of the Arnhem Land sculptural repertoire. Their contemporary political and artistic significance was sealed in 1988, when the Aboriginal Memorial was created and installed in the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. Comprising 200 hollow log coffins, it is a memorial to all the aboriginal people who have died defending their land since 1788.

The pristine waters of the Liverpool Estuary

Works on their way to London!

An-gujechiya (Fish Trap) Marawarr, Susan H 234 cm x W 64 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

An-gujechiya (Fish Trap) Marawarr, Susan H 146 cm x W 27 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Yawkyawk Marawarr, Susan H 164 cm x W 52 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Wak Wak Marawarr, Susan H 205 cm x W 65 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Wak Wak Marawarr, Susan H 219 cm x W 56 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Wak Wak Marawarr, Susan H 146 cm x W 67 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Dilebang Marawarr, Susan H 129 cm x W 50 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

An-gujechiya (Fish Trap) Marawarr, Susan H 227 cm x W 55 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) Marawarr, Susan H 119 cm x Dia. 14 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) (Details)

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) Marawarr, Susan H 152 cm x W 14 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) (Detail)

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) Marawarr, Susan H 139 cm x Dia. 12 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) (Detail)

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) Marawarr, Susan H 152 cm x W 14 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) (Details)

Wak Wak Marawarr, Susan H 125 cm x Dia. 17 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Wak Wak (Detail)

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) Marawarr, Susan H 203 cm x W 16 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Lorrkon (Hollow Log) (Details)

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 159 cm x Dia. 5 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 180 cm x Dia. 3 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 164 cm x Dia. 3 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 189 cm x Dia. 4 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 113 cm x Dia. 6 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 123 cm x Dia. 5 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 156 cm x Dia. 4 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 142 cm x Dia. 5 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 129 cm x Dia. 5 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 113 cm x Dia. 5 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Marawarr, Susan H 196 cm x Dia. 7 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Bonson, SamsonW H 166 cm x Dia. 4 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimih Spirit Bonson, Samson H 164 cm x Dia. 14 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimh Spirit (Details)

Mimih Spirit Djorlom, Don H 148 cm x Dia. 7 cm Stringybark with Ochre Pigment

Mimh Spirit (Detail)

Gum Creek Timms, Freddie H 120 cm x W 270 cm Natural Ochre on canvas

Medicine Pocket (Mendoowoorrji) Timms, Freddie H 140 cm x W 100 cm Natural Ochre on Canvas

Minyma Tjukurrpa Giles, Esther H 152 cm x W 137 cm Acrylic on canvas

Water Site of Kulkulnga, West of Jupiter Well Tjungurrayi, Brandy H 122 cm x W 183 cm Acrylic on linen

Country Pula, Natalie Holmes H 196 cm x W 140 (2 x 70 cm panels) cm Acrylic on linen

Limestone Ridge at Goonboorooru Cave Carter, Claude H 90 cm x W 120 cm x D 4 cm Natural Ochre on canvas