Contemporary Australian artist Tony Albert’s exhibition ‘Visible’ not only showcased major works from the last 15 years, it also included new work not previously exhibited. The title of the exhibition speaks to one of Albert’s often used quotes ‘Invisible is my favourite colour’, a response which frames the exhibition. In Albert’s practice, he explores representations…
Ntaria, the former Lutheran Hermannsburg Mission, located about 130 kilometres west of Alice Springs, is now home to the Hermannsburg Potters. The Arrernte people from this area – inspired by the example of their forebear, Albert Namatjira – are famous for their watercolours of the desert interior of Australia. When the Arrernte community took responsibility…
Continue reading » “The full-bodied vessels of the Hermannsburg Potters document their culture”
Warlpiri/Luritja artist Kumantje (Michael Nelson) Jagamara AM and Imants Tillers have collaborated on 24 artworks together since 2001, and the latest of these, the striking 72-panel painting Metafisica Australe 2017 (illustrated). The expansive and compelling work holds special meaning, as it reflects on how the artists embarked on a working relationship that developed following Tillers’s…
Continue reading » “Kumantje Jagamara and Imants Tillers collaborate on ‘Metafisica Australe’”
The Coming of the Light is a significant work by Gordon Bennett (1955–2014), one of Australia’s most influential contemporary artists. Bennett addresses Australian history as it has come to be represented and asks how it might accommodate new voices. The writing is on the wall, portent is thick in the air. In a corner, the surface…
Amata community is located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in north-western South Australia. In the 1970s, Amata women were encouraged to learn batik, natural dyeing, spinning, weaving and leatherwork techniques. Minymaku Arts (meaning ‘belonging to women’) was set up in 1997, but in 2005 the centre was renamed Tjala Arts, with both men…
Continue reading » “Amata painters: Western Desert painting movement”
The Hermannsburg School is an art movement that began at the Lutheran mission of Hermannsburg in Central Australia in the 1930s, inspired by Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira who was born there. Following Namatjira’s early sell-out exhibitions, members of his extended family and his community – most of whom were already making art in some form – became interested in…
Continue reading » “An enduring art tradition: The Hermannsburg School”
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.