John Mawurndjul is considered one of the most significant Australian artists of his generation. He has led a virtual revolution in bark painting, transforming the work of his country in central Arnhemland from what is referred to as X- Ray painting, through to his abstract depictions of the Mardayin ceremony referred to now as the ˜Rarrk’ style. Mawurndjul was the first Indigenous artist to win the prestigious Clemenger prize for contemporary art in 2003. Since his last solo exhibition at Annandale Galleries in 2004 Mawurndjul has had a full retrospective at the Tinguely Museum in Basel Switzerland, and was a featured artist at the Quai Branley Museum Aboriginal installation in Paris in 2005.
John Mawurndjul’s new exhibition of bark paintings and ceremonial poles has an extraordinary coherence. The works are somewhat similar at first glance as the artist has stripped his work down to the bare essentials and seems to be saying that ˜less is more’. Further looking reveals a subtle but remarkable individuality to each painting. The paintings have reduced the quantity but not the quality of information and the result are serene works to the eye that evoke the landscape and the sacred energies emanating from the places he has ˜mapped’.
