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ARTIST OF THE MONTH |
Mars 2013 |
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Bagu ceramics: Artists from Girringun, Queensland
The form and imagery of the bagu with jiman artwork has its origins in the sky. A mystical spirit of fire, would throw the jiman (firesticks) across the sky and a trail of fire would follow.
Based on the traditional fire making implements of the Girringun rainforest Aboriginal people, the artists have created artworks made from clay, timber and string to evoke the spirit of the old people.
Traditionally, the firesticks were made up of two parts, the Bagu (body) and Jiman (sticks). Bagu is normally made from the boogadilla (milky pine tree) and Jiman are made from mudja (wild guava tree) or jiman. The bagu form was founded in the shape of a man, and a spirit design was created with traditional clays and the ochre colours are magera yellow, jillan, black with wallaby blood and garba white.
View all Bagus
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November 2012 |
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Joseph Jurra TJAPALTJARRI
Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri was born in the desert in Western Australia in approximately 1952, near where the community of Kiwirrkura now stands. He commenced painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1986. In 1999 Joseph contributed to the Kintore men’s painting as part of the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal.
Apart from the best australian museums, his works can be seen in a number of international museums such as the Groninger Museum (Netherlands), the Aboriginal Art Museum (Utrecht, Netherlands) or the The Kelton Foundation Collection, the
University of Viginia, or the
Institute of Contemporary Art of Chicago in the U.S.A.
His works will be displayed at the Art Gent Art Fair in Gent, Belgium from 30 November till Tuesday 4 December 2012. more informations on Art Gent Art Fair
View Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri's works
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August 2012 |
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Wentja Morgan NAPALTJARRI
Wentja is a highly talented and accomplished artist with a distinctive style. Her work has developed through a succession of stages, her earlier system of interconnecting concentric circles and dotted bands now replaced by mesmerising fields of tonal colours. Her paintings are asymetric, and they usually contain a key motif - in most cases a large roundel, which represents an important rockhole where her family regularly camped over many years.
Surrounding the rockhole is a charged energy field of intricate dots executed in subtle colours and with precision and consistency. The soft dotting technique is a typical characteristic of many Mount Liebig artists. Wentja sings about the rockhole while she works, and the songs and music are incorporated into her paintings.
Her works will be displayed during the Parcours des Mondes Art Fair, 12 - 16 September 2012 at the Galerie Seine 51 (51 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris)
View Wentja Morgna Napaltjarri's paintings
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April 2012 |
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February 2012 |
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GW Bot
G.W. BOT is inspired by the landscape, the physical and metaphysical one. She is not a landscape artist, but her art reflects the rytms of the land, and her personal journey within the landscape, and in particular her garden. It shows her delight in materials and texture, and intricately working her surfaces. In her early prints Bot depicted a domestic space, using te imagery about her to convey her life as a mother, and gave this a spiritual resoannce. In her later work she has focused more on the environment about her.
According to Aboriginal totemic belief, each member of a clan inherits a totemic relationship with a particular plant or animal of the region. G.W. Bot likes this idea of oneness with the environment. Where she lives wombats are especially prevalent and they have become her totemic animal. The earliest written reference to a wombat occurs in a French source where it is called "le grand Wam Bot," and hence her exhibiting name - G.W. Bot.
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November - December 2011 |
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Andrea Martin NUNGARRAYI
Andrea Martin Nungarrayi is one of the many oustanding artists who work at Warlukurlangu Art Center. She began working at the Art Centre at the request of the Committee while she was still at school, and has now been working there for 20 years, since the very beginning of Warlukurlangu.
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September 2011 |
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Dennis Nona (born 1973)
Dennis Nona is widely acknowledged as one the most important Torres Strait Islander artists. Born on Badu Island in 1973 he was taught as a young boy the traditional craft of woodcarving. In 2007, he became the youngest Australian artist and first Torres Strait Islander to win the 1st prize of the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In 2008, in 2010 and again in 2011, Dennis received the Telstra Works on Paper Award.
Nona pioneered the development of the highly intricate linocut prints unique to the Torres Strait Islands. Instead of a work based on a single image like that of the traditional Torres Strait Islander art, he introduced many. In this way he could relate an entire narrative in one single work. Since this breakthrough, the imagery created by printmakers like Nona, have given local culture a vital reinvigoration. Today they are central to a cultural revival and elders now refer to them to help them to relate ancient stories to others.
Nona often works on a monumental scale. This enables him to visually translate some of the long and complex legends of his island in intricate details. Now he is working a bronze and pearlshell project for the new Musée des Confluences in Lyon, monumental sculpture that will measure 6 meters high and 8.5 meters long.
His skill and constant innovation have resulted in works of great beauty and complexity. This is why it is seen in depth in Australia’s National Gallery, all the State Galleries, and in a growing number of important overseas institutions such as the British Museum (London) the Tjibaou Cultural Center (Nouméa), the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Rochefort) and the Musée des Confluences (Lyon).
View Dennis Nona's works
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November/December 2010 |
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Aurukun's artists
Aurukun is situated on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. It is one of the larger communities on the Cape with approximately 1200 people. It was established as as a Presbyterian mission in 1904. The various nations of the western Cape, based around Aurukun, are collectively referred to as the Wik and Kugu peoples. There are five different clans groups within this area.
Aurukun has the oldest established art centre on Cape York Peninsula. There has been an art centre at Aurukun for over fifty years and it provides artistic and commercial support for local artists. The Wik and Kugu Arts and Crafts Centre focuses on the production of high quality indigenous sculpture and fibre art as well as being an important cultural centre.
Artists of the Aurukun region are famous for their sculptures. Traditionally the works were carved in soft timber for use in ceremonies. When the ceremonies were finished the objects were discarded and left to break down in the bush. These sculptures are now taking more lasting form as art objects.
Sculptures from Aurukun are mainly based on totemic animal or plant images. Each artist has one or sometimes two totems that relate to them, their family and their language group and identify them within a social structure. It is only in the last 10 years that the artists of Aurukun have pursued a commercial market for their work.
Craig Koomeeta is one of the best known Aurukun sculptors. He is a member of the Wik-Alkan language group and lives in Aurukun. In 2001, as the first Aurukun artist to enter the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, he received the Wandjuk Marika Memorial Three-Dimensional Award for his Saltwater crocodile sculpture. His work has been included in major exhibitions.
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September/October 2010 |
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Kathleen Petyarre & Abie Loy Kemarre
The paintings of Australian Aboriginal artist Kathleen Petyarre have been compared internationally to those of the minimalist modern artists Mark Rothko and Agnes Martin, not so much for their formal structure: but for what underlies beneath, partially hidden from the observers view. In actuality, Kathelen Petyarre's paintings are mental territorial maps which portray her country and the narrative associated with her inherited Dreaming stories.
Her celebrated works, Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming, when presented on a grand scale, depict the whole of her ancestral country (which covers some 200 square kilometers of the eastern desert of central Australia), whilst other works, like the My Country and Rock-holes series, present a seasonal snapshot within: a close-up of a geographical location spiritually important to the artist.
Australian Aboriginal artist Abie Loy Kemarre began painting in 1994 under the formidable guidance of her famous grandmother, Kathleen Petyarre who imparted the methodology for creating the depth-of-field of tiny shimmering dots in her highly delicate, Bush Hen Dreaming paintings.
Over time, Abie Loy Kemarre's paintings further evolved through her skill as a talented colorist and during 2001/2002, Loy introduced a bolder, more abstract style in her Sandhills and Body painting series. These newly evolved paintings are representational of her inherited Dreaming stories, however, these powerful images could be stylistically interpreted as abstract, expressionist and even post-modern.
Abie Loy Kemarre's unique signature style of painting has brought her critical acclaim that postures Loy at the leading edge of the Australian contemporary art movement.
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June 2010 |
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Dean Bowen (born 1957)
It is with great pleasure that we announce you the selection of a painting by Dean Bowen to be part of the collection of the Colas Foundation. Every year, fifteen contemporary painters from all over the world are selected and commissioned to produce a painting on the theme of the road.
"The idea is to imagine the roads of today and tomorrow and to paint them," explains Alain Dupont.
The finished paintings are then exhibited at a private view held at the company's head office before being hung in the Group's offices and reception areas in France and other countries.
The Colas Foundation today owns more than 200 canvases, reflecting current trends in pictorial art and the place of the road in the contemporary world.
Synonymous with dreams, liberty, and exchange, roads link people together, helping to generate economic and cultural wealth. Thanks to the Colas Foundation, roads also inspire artistic creation.
Australian artist Dean Bowen was born in 1957, he is based in Melbourne. He has been exhibiting paintings, bronze sculpture and prints for over twenty years and his works are represented in major public and private collections. He has held solo exhibitions in Australia, France, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
This is a statement by Dean Bowen about his work: "My paintings often use the road as a metaphor for lifes experiences. Our travels on the road are often contemplative journeys. Whether on a crowded city road or through open roads in rural landscapes our thoughts move with us. The meditative nature of travel, both through long journeys or arduous challenges often enhances our spirituality and revives our imagination, reinvigorating us. We watch meditatively, captivated and transfixed by the passing parade of both landscape and humanity. The journey acts as a symbol, both physically and psychologically, taking us beyond ourselves, enhancing and reminding us of the preciousness of life. My urban road paintings are an often humorous comment on contemporary crowded city life, something we all experience at some stage.
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March 2010
Exhibition "Australian Trilogy : Dennis Nona, Abie Loy Kemarre, GW Bot"
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Dennis Nona (born 1973)
Dennis Nona is widely acknowledged as one the most important Torres Strait Islander artists.
Born on Badu Island in 1973 he was taught as a young boy the traditional craft of woodcarving. This skill has been developed and translated into the incredibly intricate and beautiful linocuts, etchings and sculptures created by the artist since the commencement of his art practice in 1989.
The artist holds a Diploma of Art from Cairns TAFE, a Diploma of Visual Arts in Printmaking from the Institution of Arts, Australian National University, Canberra and is currently completing a Master of Arts degree in Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. His work can be seen in the collections of most of the major Australian art institutions and in several important overseas collections. These include the National Gallery of Australia; Queensland Art Gallery; National Gallery of Victoria; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Cambridge University Museum UK and the Museum of American Indian Arts, USA, etc.
Abie Loy (born 1972)
At the age of 22 Abie Loy began painting under the tutelage and influence of her grandmother, Kathleen. Establishing a reputation for detail and fine dotting, Abie's artistic talent and technical skill with batik and canvas was clearly evident, no more so than in her paintings, Bush Hen Dreaming and Leaves.
Around 2001/2002 Abie began experimenting with the elements of line, colour and form, resulting in a more linear, abstract and expressionistic style as seen in her Sandhills and Women's Body Painting series.
Abie's work on canvas has been exhibited extensively, nationally and internationally. Her paintings are held in major collections all over the world. Abie has twice been a finalist in the Telstra NATSIAA awards.
GW Bot
According to Aboriginal totemic belief, each member of a clan inherits a totemic relationship with a particular plant or animal of the region. I like this idea of oneness with the environment. Where I live wombats are especially prevalent and they have become my totemic animal. The earliest written reference to a wombat occurs in a French source where it is called "le grand Wam Bot," and hence my exhibiting name - G.W. Bot.
I was born in Quetta, Pakistan, of Australian parents and studied art in London, Paris and Australia and graduated from the Australian National University in 1982. My drawings were first published in a book in London in 1980 and since 1985 I have worked as a full-time artist.
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February 2010 |
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Ronnie TJAMPITJIMPA (born 1940)
Ronnie was born around 1940 near Muyinnga, about 100 kilometers west of the Kintore ranges. His family moved extensively across the Pintupi territory up through the Northern Territory, living the traditional ways in which his people have lived for over 40,000 years.
He was initiated into manhood in the early 1950's at Yumari near his birthplace. Shortly afterwards, due to drought conditions in the 1950's Ronnie and his family moved towards Haast Bluff and then later joined relatives at the newly settled Papunya community.
One of the youngest artists, Ronnie began painting in 1971 with the founding group of Papunya painters, and became an important influence on the outstation movement. Ronnie moved to Walungurru with his family after it was established in 1981. In the early 1980s Ronnie painted only intermittently for Papunya Tula Artists; however, by the late 1980s and early 1990s his distinctive graphic style attracted considerable attention. In these later works, his delicate, dotted Tingari designs have been transformed into bands of colour to dazzling optical effect.
By being more in touch with his traditional lands and the Dreaming, Ronnie soon emerged as a major artist of the Papunya Tula group. His work reflects his direct ties with his culture, retaining a purity that many other Aboriginal artists have not achieved. Ronnie's work follows the strict Pintupi style of strong circles joined together by connecting lines relating to the people, the land, and the Dreamtime.
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January 2010 |
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Freddy TIMMS (born 1944)
Freddy Timms was born near Turkey Creek in the Kimberleys. He worked as a stockman, handyman and fencer on several stations throughout the Kimberleys. He met and worked with the late Rover Thomas and participated in the dancing and preparation of boards for the early performances of the Krill Krill. Freddy painted for Waringarri Arts from the late 1980's developing a personal style, reminiscent of Rover Thomas, but recognisably his own. He painted exclusively in earth pigments until the mid 1990's when he began experimenting with colour. Many of his works are maps of the country where he lived and worked all his life. His paintings are typified by expanses of flat colour delineated by white dotting, according to topography, geology, history and spiritual connections and include the black soil country, red ground, sandy ground, hills, creeks, watercourses and waterholes, roads, homesteads and dreaming places of his travels.
Freddys paintings adorn the walls of institutions such as the Aboriginal Art Museum in Utrecht, the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), etc.
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