TRANSFORMATIONS Aboriginal Art Today
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today supports the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, an Australian based charity which aims to raise literacy levels and improve the lives and opportunities of Indigenous children living in remote and isolated regions. This is done through the delivery of books and literacy resources, publishing and visits out to remote communities of Australia.
Charity Event | Tuesday 19th May An Evening Lecture and Reception with Nicola Pagano and Wirra Wirra Wines £35 per ticket  enquire with the gallery
www.ilf.org.au
TRANSFORMATIONS Aboriginal Art Today 13 23 May 2015
Lacey Contemporary Gallery 8 Clarendon Cross | W11 4AP | London
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: THE CONTEMPORARY PRESENCE OF ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN ART | by Henry F Skerritt
Every work in this exhibition is a revelation. Some are intended to knock you square between the eyes, to bowl you over with the sensuous impact of riotous color combinations and cascading forms. Standing before the paintings of Yaritji Young, Barbara Mbitjana Moore or Lilly Hargraves Nungarrayi is like looking up at an explosive display of pyrotechnics. Like ireworks, their effect is bold and immediate. Their visual appeal hits you before you have time to think what it could possibly mean. Such paintings might seem textbook illustrations for the old Kantian dictum that aesthetics precedes reason. We might even stretch this observation further to include the somber ochre works of Phyllis Thomas and Freddie Timms. Surely even the most casual viewer must sense the gravitas and elemental authority in the muted earthiness of these bold expressions of country? For some viewers, this initial aesthetic impact might be enough. And yet, by virtue of the fact that you are reading this essay, taking the time to explore these complex and mysterious works further, I am going to guess that you are looking for something more. I am going to guess that these works have given you an itch, that there is something in them that compels you to scratch beneath the surface. In the decade that I have been writing about Aboriginal Australian art, I have found this to be a common response. I don’t think this is accidental. As the art historian Ian McLean has succinctly noted, “These paintings are aimed at the Western world with all the power and accuracy of a wellthrown spear.” There is a tendency in the west to view indigenous art forms as the last gasps of disappearing cultures. But these artworks are not sentinels protecting a disappearing regime of knowledge; they are occupying forces spreading their message with persuasive affect. This is guerrilla aesthetics, iniltrating your consciousness with the aim of making you see the world differently.
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
Indeed, it doesn’t take too much digging before these paintings begin to reveal complex histories of place, detailed ecological knowledge, the joyous expression of ancestral creation, and the scars of colonial encounter. If we are to begin to appreciate the profundity of these revelations, we must irst delve deep into the concept of “country” that runs through these works. The sociologist Vivien Johnson has described Western Desert paintings as being “deeds of title” to ancestral country. While this is certainly true, it is a very different model of land tenure to that of Western property law. The rights enshrined in these “deeds” cannot be transferred, because it is an authority that comes from the reciprocal sense of also belonging to the land. Hence, Aboriginal artists will often describe a painting as being both a landscape and a selfportrait. At the same time, the meaning of “country” is deined by the continuing presence of ancestral beings. During the creation period (often referred to as the Dreaming), these beings shaped travelled across the country, creating all things, and leaving their residue in the landscape. These are the types of narratives recounted in the works of Bob Gibson and Esther Giles: narratives whose presence gives the earth its spiritual power, and whose commemoration keeps the generative ability of country strong. For Aboriginal Australians, this ancestral presence reveals itself in the creative potential and visual activity of the landscape. The shimmer of a dried waterhole, shifts in light and color, or the blooms in Spring are all tangible expressions of ancestral experience. They are the way in which the Dreaming is made visible. Painting translates these effects and presents them as a knowable feature of place. For Yolngu artists, such as Dhurrumuwuy Marika and Ralwurrandji Wanambi, this effect is known as bir’yun: the brilliance of designs interpreted as an index of ancestral power. We might see a similar process at work in the shimmering optical effects marshaled by Maureen Poulson Napangardi. In an age in which art, information and people move with increasing speed (albeit not always voluntarily, nor with equal agency), these paintings ask us to stop. They ask us to slow down, to look carefully, to pay attention to what the
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
natural world reveals to us. On their most literal level, these paintings ask us to be conscious of the presence of spirits and ancestral beings. In a broader sense, they force us to acknowledge the presence of different ways of seeing and valuing the same world. This is the most contemporary claim imaginable. Every signiicant work of art is an attempt to make sense of the world. In our increasingly networked age, the deining task of artists is to imagine both our shared connectivity and our differences. Globalization has thrown different cultures and ideologies into unprecedented contact and conlict. Shaping these differences into meaningful connections has become the deining problem for contemporary artists everywhere. The most important contemporary artists today speak within and across cultures (El Anatsui/Ai Wei Wei), embody parallel worlds (Paul Chan/Juli Mehretu), and reveal disjunctive ways of understanding time and space (Pierre Huyghe/Rabih Mroue). These are the very same features that characterize the work of leading contemporary Aboriginal Australian artists. The true contemporaneity of the artworks in this exhibition does not come from their use of bright colors or modern materials, but from the insistent claims that they make on the present. Whether in the bold shapes of Keturah Nangala Zimran, or the spiraling lutter of Joy Kngwarreye Jones, these paintings demand your recognition of the persistence and beauty of Aboriginal Australian cultures and the Dreaming Law that underpins them. Another way to consider this is through Regina Pilawuk Wilson’s delicate rendering of Syaw, a design based upon the ish nets that she remembers her parents and grandparents weaving before the arrival of missionaries during the 1940s. Recording this memory serves as a bulwark against the process of forgetting. In doing so, it weaves these traditional practices into the practice of contemporary life. Wilson describes it like this: “My way—the [Syaw] story—it’s there, from a hundred thousand years ago. I’ve got to paint the story on the canvas. It’s like our history.” It is their ability to effectively communicate this history crossculturally without sacriicing any of their distinctive cultural identity that places artists like Wilson at the vanguard
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
of global contemporary art practice. You might enjoy looking at these works. You might bask in their glowing colors and radiating energy. Indeed, they invite you to do so: this is their lure. But to do so is to allow yourself to be occupied by ancestral presence. Allow yourself to be overtaken and you just might see a world more magical than you ever imagined: a world big enough to contain spirits and gods, but small enough to allow meaningful conversations between different cultures, united across the sensuous plain of the canvas. Henry F. Skerritt is a curator and art historian based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is editor of the book ‘No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting’ (Prestel Publishing, 2015).
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
ARTISTS AND REGIONS
Artists - Arnhem Land Bob Burruwal Lena Yarinkura Miko Rostron Leslie Lanigan Dhurrumuwuy Marika Malaluba Gumana Nawurapu Wunungmurra Ralwurrandji Wanambi Regina Pilawuk Wilson Maningrida
Yirrkala
Artists - Kimberley Pampila Hanson Boxer Patrick Biting Freddie Timms Claude Carter
Ruper River
ARNHEM LAND
Kununurra
Fitzroy Crossing Darwin
KIMBERLEY Mornington Island
NORTHERN TERRITORY WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Perth
Lajamanu
QUEENSLAND
Alice Springs
Brisbane
NEW SOUTH WALES
Adelaide
CENTRAL DESERT Utopia
Yuendumu
Papunya Parjarr
Amata Ernabella
ACT
VICTORIA Artists - Central Desert Phyliss Thomas Lily Hargraves Kathleen Kngale Annie Petyarre Hunter Joy Kngwarreye Jones Barbara Mbitjana Moore Alice Nampitjinpa Keturah Nagala Zimran Maggie Major Nampitjinpa Maureen Poulson Napangardi Yaritji Young Esther Giles Bob Gibson
Sydney
Canberra Melbourne
TAS Hobart
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
FEATURED WORKS:
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Alice Nampitjinpa (left) Porcupine Tjukurrpa Acrylic on Linen 122x92cm
Alice Nampitjinpa Porcupine Lore at the Waterhole Acrylic on Linen 100x179cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Alice Nampitjinpa (left) Tali-Tali (Big Mob Sandhills) Acrylic on Linen 122x91cm
Annie Petyari Arowilya Awelye Acrylic on Linen 60x120cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Barbara Moore Untitled Acrylic on Linen 198x197cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Bob Gibson Patjantja Acrylic on Canvas 36x36cm
Bob Gibson Patjantja Acrylic on Canvas 30x30cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Bob Gibson Warlutu Acrylic on Canvas 101x121cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Claude Carter Limestone Ridge at Gooboogooru Cave Natural Earth Ochres on Canvas 120x90cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Claude Carter Limestone Ridge at Gooboogooru Cave Natural Earth Ochres on Canvas 180x190cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Dhurrumuwuy Marika Rulyapa Natural Earth Pigments on Laminate 92x122cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Freddie Timms Gum Creek Natural Earth Pigments on Canvas 120x270cm (triptych)
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Esther Giles Purrungu - Python Story Acrylic on Canvas 148x179cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Esther Giles Minymarr Tjukurrpa Acrylic on Canvas 137x152cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Kathleen Kngale Anekwet J - Bush Plum 2009 Acrylic on Linen 60x120cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Joy Kngwarreye Jones Ayipa Grass 2010 Acrylic on Belgium Linen 90x90cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
(left) Keturah Nangala Zimran Puli Puli - Big Mob Rocks Acrylic on Linen 166x122cm
Keturah Nangala Zimran Puli Puli - Stones Acrylic on Belgium Linen 80x120cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lily Hargraves Turkey Dreaming Acrylic on Linen 150x120cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Lily Hargraves Duck Ponds Dreamings Acrylic on Linen 150x120cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Maureen Poulson Napangardi Kapi Tjukurrpa - Kalipinyka Acrylic on Canvas 198x122cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
Rosie Tasman Centipede and Butterly Dreaming Acrylic on Canvas 180x150cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Phyllis Thomas Gemerre 2008 (triptych) Acrylic and natural earth pigments on board 80x100cm (x3)
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Maggie Major Nampitjinpa Itilangi Tjukurrpa Acrylic on Canvas 183x107cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Rosie Tasman Bush Potato Dreaming Acrylic on Canvas 180x150cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Regina Pilawuk Wilson Syaw Acrylic on Belgium Linen 99x99cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Yaritji Young Tjala Tjukurpa Acrylic on Linen 198x198cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Miko Rostron Mimih Spirit Stringy Bark with Ochre Pigment and PVA ď ?ixative 130x5cm
Leslie Lanigan Mimih Spirit Carving 175x6cm
Miko Rostron Mimih Spirit Stringy Bark with Ochre Pigment and PVA ď ?ixative 138x5cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
Malaluba Gumana Dhatum Larrakitk, 2013 Hollow Logs with Natural ochres and PVC ixative various height approx 160180cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lena Yarinkura Warum (ish increasing spirit) Ochre Pigment on Kurrajong with PVA Fixative 178cm (height)
Bob Burruwal Warum (ish increasing spirit) Ochre Pigment on Kurrajong with PVA Fixative 178cm (height)
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Nawuwapu Wunungmurra Mokuy Carving 200cm (height)
Nawuwapu Wunungmurra Mokuy Carving 247cm (height)
Patrick Biting Lightning Man Natural Pigment on Wood 140x40cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Ralwurrandji Wanambi Trial Bay Bark 58x242cm
(right) Ralwurrandji Wanambi Bamurrumu Bark Painting 77x177cm
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Pampila Hanson Boxer Hand Crafted & Painted Boomerangs Black Wood with Natural Earth Pigments and Kangaroo Fat Oil 5488cm (approx)
Lacey Contemporary | 13  23 May 2015
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Yolngu Mokuy Painted Wood Carving 63cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Mokuy Painted Wood Carving 82cm
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
JGM Art Ltd
JGMART is a London gallery founded by private dealer, Jennifer GuerriniMaraldi. She exhibits and sells contemporary aboriginal paintings and sculptures collected each year during her travels into the remotest areas of Australia. Jennifer is a leading expert in Australian Contemporary Art offering paintings and sculpture by artists from the world’s oldest cultural traditions to collectors worldwide. Jennifer is renowned throughout Australia for her integrity and keen eye, working closely with art advisors from oficial community art centres. She takes personal responsibility to ensure that artists are paid correctly and new artists supported. All artworks are accompanied by an oficial certiicate and provenance. The Gallery represents the work of a wide selection of artists. Works come from communities on Mornington Island and the Tiwi Islands as well as regions of the Kimberley, APY and NPY Lands, Top End and Arnhem Land, Western and Central Desert areas. JGM Art is a proud member of the Indigenous Art Code. Their Australian National Code of Conduct promotes and monitors professional conduct among dealers in indigenous visual art.
www.jgmart.co.uk ph: 07860 325 326
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
Lacey Contemporary Gallery
Lacey Contemporary is a new art gallery based in Holland Park, London. Since opening in October 2014, Lacey Contemporary has showcased contemporary emerging artists who show impressive promise through their technique and craftsmanship. Lacey Contemporary represents a small stable of Britishbased artists and aims to create longterm relationships with their artists, and provide full promotion and opportunities for their work. Alongside their program of represented artists exhibitions, Lacey Contemporary is proud to present a series of exhibitions that celebrate and promote the emerging markets. The gallery has selected exhibitions that collaborate with art curators and artists from abroad, as well as expert art dealers in exciting new markets such as African and Aboriginal Art – with works that are in keeping with the gallery ethos of exhibiting vibrant and dynamic emerging, contemporary painting and sculpture. “From the beginning we’ve aimed to represent vibrant, unique and original paintings and sculpture by some of the most promising emerging contemporary artists in Britain. Our secondary specialism in the emerging markets will retain these values through the careful selection of work by our expert curator partners” – Andrew Lacey, Gallery Director
www.laceycontemporarygallery.co.uk Ph: 0207 313 9068
Transformations: Aboriginal Art Today
Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves painting at Lajamanu, near Katherine, Northern Territoy, Australia
Lacey Contemporary | 13 23 May 2015
TRANSFORMATIONS Aboriginal Art Today 13 23 May 2015
Ralwurrandji Wanambi | Bamurrumu | Bark Painting 77x177cm
Transformations | 1323 May 2015 Lacey Contemporary Gallery 8 Clarendon Cross | W11 4AP | London