A very exciting exhibition opens on Saturday, Nov. 11, at Redbud Arts Center at 303 E. 11th Street. “Ancient Lands … Ageless Stories” is a show of contemporary Aboriginal Australian art, which Redbud Arts Center is hosting in collaboration with the Booker-Lowe Art Gallery to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Australia’s contemporary Aboriginal art movement.
The show includes works by artists Rosella Namok, Silas Hobson, Fiona Omeenyo, Jeffrey Jangala Gallagher, Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson, and Joycie Pitjarra Morton among others. While the paintings all have a modern look and feel and are created by Aboriginal artists who are our contemporaries, they draw on the rich artistic heritage of the world’s oldest living culture. Australia’s first nations have been making art for 50,000 years. If you’re a lover of abstract art, you might have encountered the term “mark making,” referring to artistic strokes meant to evoke emotion. Surely, the knowledge that 50,000 years ago Aboriginals in Australia were engaging in mark making on cave walls, in the bark of trees, in the sand, even on their own bodies, is awe-inspiring. And the fact that so many thousands of years later, artists are carrying on these artistic traditions along with the mythology that permeates them, and that we can see such works here in our own neighborhood is exciting indeed.
According to the Redbud Arts Center website, “The contemporary Aboriginal art movement began in the early 1970s at Papunya, a remote government settlement in the Northern Territory. At the urging of the local school’s art teacher, a group of senior men agreed to paint a mural of a tribal Tjukurrpa, or Dreaming story about their Honey Ant ancestor. Using modern paints and brushes, they created a striking abstract work on a school wall, and soon after, began painting on canvas, old floorboards, or whatever they could find. These small paintings quickly attracted attention at a small art gallery and on the streets of Alice Springs, several hundreds of miles away. Soon, men and women from other indigenous communities began painting, translating their own traditional patterns onto canvas. Today, hundreds of Aboriginal painters from coast-to-coast exhibit their works, portraying a cultural journey unlike any other in museums and galleries not only in Australia but throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S.”
According to the Redbud Arts Center website, the inception of the contemporary Aboriginal art movement can be traced back to the early 1970s when it emerged in the remote government settlement of Papunya, located in the Northern Territory. Encouraged by a local school’s art teacher, a group of senior men decided to embark on a creative endeavor, painting a mural depicting a tribal Tjukurrpa or Dreaming story centered around their Honey Ant ancestor. Armed with modern paints and brushes, they skillfully crafted an impactful abstract artwork on a school wall. This initial project inspired them to extend their artistic expressions to various surfaces, including canvas, old floorboards, and any available materials.
These small paintings quickly garnered attention, both within a small art gallery and on the streets of Alice Springs, several hundreds of miles away. Before long, individuals from other indigenous communities joined in, bringing their own traditional patterns to life on canvas. Today, Aboriginal painters hailing from different corners of the country proudly showcase their works. Their art serves as a representation of a cultural journey that stands apart from any other, gracing museums and galleries not only in Australia but also across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States.
“Aboriginal art from Australia is a window into one of the world’s oldest cultures,” said Nana Booker, co-founder of the Booker-Lowe Art Gallery and a long-time art dealer of Australian Aboriginal art. The art reflects an incredible visual history, yet aesthetically it’s very modern. Artists use a combination of natural pigments as well as Western materials. The resulting canvases, Booker said, are “rich and layered in meaning, as well as great to look at.” Art lovers who want to know more about the meaning behind the paintings can delve into a whole mythology where the amount of exploration open to them seems endless. They can learn about ancestral creation spirits, rainbow serpents, as well as a different philosophy regarding creation, in which the creation era is never ending.
Having been involved with collecting Aboriginal art for over 25 years, and having traveled to Australia repeatedly, Nana Booker talks with great excitement about the moment when she first fell in love with Aboriginal art, in a gallery in St. Louis during a business trip. She says she was blown away by the paintings she saw. “The power of them was palpable.”
“Ancient Lands … Ageless Stories” will be on view at Redbud Arts Center until Dec. 30, with the opening reception taking place the evening of Saturday, Nov. 11, from 6-9 p.m.
