Time to whet your appetites with news of serious exhibitions of First Nations art (and culture) in a variety of venues.
Last weekend in Sydney for instance, I managed four fine shows and had the pleasure of meeting the Man of the Moment – Vincent Namatjira. His art was for sale for the first time in Sydney at Yavuz Gallery in Surry Hills, and this breakthrough was sufficient to attract the man out of Indulkana in the APY Lands to talk to that dynamic curator, Alexie Glass-Kantor. Interestingly, Namatjira revealed that he’d tried both the water-colours of his great-grandfather and desert dotting; but neither had taken off. Then someone at the Iwantja Art Centre suggested he do a portrait of Albert, “to keep the name strong”. It worked; a suite of 13 resulted. And then, as he moved on to the Royals looking miserable on his Country, Vincent discovered that his painting had the opportunity to reverse traditional power structures.
His red-faced King Charles in this show “puts him in my shoes, and his power is stripped away. For we are the spiritual people of this Country”. Much more from the 40 year old artist with an early retrospective as part of Tarnanthi in Adelaide and a monograph published by Thames & Hudson.
Just round the corner from Yavuz is Station Gallery’s Sydney home, and here was Melburnian Reko Rennie surprising with a passionate YES for the Voice. Two works in different hues – vibrant as ever with Rennie – are entitled YESMOTHERFUCKERSYES, which says it all really. Other mirrored works are a little quieter; but not as quiet as Rennie’s ‘sculpture’ just delivered to the MCA’s cafe terrace. It’s a gravestone commemorating the unending tragedy of Black Deaths in Custody.
Back to the deserts at Utopia Art Sydney where the late Gloria Petyarre is getting a serious show from Chris Hodges in an attempt to overcome the excess that became associated with her name (if not always her brush). Dazzling brushwork and serious prices make the eyes water. But then Hodges is the master curator of the aesthetic of desert art with ‘Pintupi Way’ featuring works by Uta Uta Jangala, Mick Namarari, George Tjungarrayi, Ronnie Tjampitjimpa, Makinti Napanangka, Ningurra Napurrula, Yukultji Napangati and Mantua Nangala opening soon at the Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra.
Surprisingly, Arnhemland has come to the Martin Browne Gallery in Paddington – a surprise in that it’s the sort of riches from nine Yolngu artists that I might have expected to meet at Annandale Galleries – where they’re currently working up to Guynbi Ganambarr solo. But will bark, larrakitj, pottery and sculpture lovers venture to Trumper Park, I wonder? Will Browne’s regular clientele be interested in the Yolngu’s Makassan connnections – a feature of the show?
In Melbourne, I can’t go past the Torres Strait Islander ceramicist Janet Fieldhouse’s work at Vivien Anderson’s gallery. If anything, her work is become more tribal, mixing her familiar buff raku with feathers and woven material, the shapes taking the timeless form of agricultural charms and spells.
Over in Perth, the annual ‘Colours of our Country’ exhibition shares in the stories and culture of the Pilbara region courtesy of its great exploiter, Rio Tinto. More than 200 Aboriginal artworks from 46 artists appear, and participating art centres include Yinjaa-Barni, Wangaba Roebourne Art Group, Cheeditha Art Group and Juluwarlu Art Group. Since the series launched in 2006, more than 2,860 artworks have been sold, generating more than $3.1 million for artists, their art groups and communities.
Finally for Australia, in Adelaide, the ever-exotic Zaachariaha Fielding is following up on his Wynne Prize-win in Sydney with a commercial show at Hugo Michell Gallery. Despite following the shapes of his Mimili Maku Country in his very own electric colours, Fielding is quoted as saying, “I approach my practice in a way where there is no division. I don’t like to think of myself as an LGBTQ person or an Aboriginal person or a person of colour. That’s not where I am at any more. I am looking beyond that”.
Over in the States at the Kluhe/Ruhe Gallery in Virgina, Three Women from Wirrimanu explores the painting practices of Eubena Nampitjin, Muntja Nungurrayi and Lucy Yukenbarri. All three women grew up living pre-contact lives in the deserts, worked at Warlayirti Artists in Balgo at the same time, becoming widely successful in the 1990s. Despite shared influences and a love of bright colours, their deep knowledge of desert Country is expressed in different styles that assert their own distinct voices.
And in the UK, the constantly mobile D’Lan Davidson declares he’s “thrilled to be participating in the Frieze Masters Fair, the first Australian gallery to do so. And we’re exceptionally proud to be presenting nine significant paintings by the revered Emily Kam Kngwarreye alongside the greatest masters of international modern and contemporary art”. This is a serious show! And at least six of Emily’s works are rippers – mostly with a Delmore Downs provenance, which used to be rather sniffed at. It’s looking good today.
Finally, I can’t resist encouraging visits to the State Library in Sydney where ‘Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari’ has just opened. Translated from the Dharawal, that means ‘They Made Them a Long Time Ago’, referring to the loans of 30 early coastal artefacts from British museums. This is early fruits of a project to map the thousands of historic Aboriginal objects held by the Brits and link them with contemporary communities such as the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council for interpretation. It’s a small but well-researched exhibition with a great little catalogue.
