Aboriginal roots
Aboriginal traditions are transmitted mainly by word of mouth. Several sacred sites nevertheless shelter paintings and art objects of this culture, above all spiritual. It is based on the Dreamtime, the moment of creation. The beliefs of this people are in close relation with nature, and the spirits present on the Australian land for several millennia.
Aboriginal art runs from the long period before colonization to the present day. It includes painting, sculpture, engraving, associated with music, song and dance, thus with the community. Its first vocation is to circulate creative energy.
The first Aboriginal cave paintings are older than the works in our European caves, notably Lascaux. Some of them are more than 40,000 years old and are spread over more than 5,000 sites. These sacred sites are concentrated in the North and in the center. In the North, the Kakadu Park opens to visitors the Nourlangie Rock site and the Ubirr rock art sites. In Nourlangie, the most famous paintings are those of Namarrgon, the lightning man responsible for storms, who takes refuge in puddles in the dry season; represented in white dotted lines, he is married to Barrinj, the mother of the locusts. In the middle of the desert, the ochre earth of Uluru - Ayers Rock shelters a dozen ancestral spirits. Drawings and sculptures on rock illustrate the Dreamtime. Many engravings can also be admired all around the country. For example, there are figures on the Burrup Peninsula in north-western WA and atEwaninga, south of Alice Springs. But you don't necessarily have to head to the Outback to see millennial art: there are even some rock art sites in and around Sydney!
Modern Aboriginal Art
In 1971, Aboriginal art came to prominence as it moved from rock to canvas. This change occurred in the community of Papunya, in the center of the continent. Teacher Geoffrey Bardon invited his students to decorate walls and then canvases with traditional motifs using a succession of similar dots. These representations were so successful that they were sold abroad.
The art, until then collective, becomes individualized. The colors and the themes diversify. Some of the most famous Aboriginal artists have exhibited throughout the world, such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri or Rover Thomas.
Clifford "Possum" says he made traditional works before the Papunya painting movement. He is also a sculptor and has been painting Aboriginal dreams since 1976 on large formats. Clifford's paintings have entered the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Auckland City Art Gallery.
In 1974, Rover Thomas Joolama (1926-1998) received during his sleep the Gurirr rites of which he became the guardian. As such, he painted the emblems on panels that would make him famous. He then received commissions and participated in exhibitions around the world until his death at the height of his fame.
The painter Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996), originally from the Utopia community, developed her artistic sensibility by preparing women's ceremonies. Introduced to batik, she adopted the canvas as a medium to express her originality. Her first style is defined by the use of a multitude of dots of various sizes and colors, as seen in Wild Potato Dreaming (1996). Gradually, the colored spots invade the canvas, before his colored phase simplifies his line to the extreme. His canvases sell at a premium. In 2013, the Emily Museum, the first museum dedicated to an Aboriginal artist, opened in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne. At an auction in 2017, one of her paintings broke the record for a female artist in the country.
Aboriginal painting continues to grow. Many of the big names live in the most remote parts of the country, such as artists from Yirrkala like Nongirrnga Marawili or Dhambit Mununggurr, or from Maningrida like John Mawurndjul, in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. You will find them in the beautiful galleries of the big Australian cities.
From colonial art to modern art
The first period of Australian art, known as "colonial", offers the point of view of Westerners. The British artist Thomas Watling arrived in 1792 after having been sentenced to a prison term. The convict painted views of Sydney Harbour in a somewhat idealized style. Following him, artists who had emigrated to Australia portrayed the Aborigines in the poses of classical, Roman and Greek warriors. It should be noted that at the same time, David's neoclassicism seduces in France.
The first fine arts museum was created in Australia: the National Gallery of Victoria.
At the end of the 19th century, it was the turn of Australian artists to seek inspiration in Spain, Great Britain and France. They discovered impressionism, which they adapted to the Australian light on their return. This is how the Heidelberg School was founded. Bush landscapes became a popular motif. From 1920 onwards, the Art in Australia period was born, the first truly national trend.
A protest art was born in reaction to the First World War. Several currents coexisted: Josl Bergner delved into social realism, Albert Tucker followed the path of expressionism, and James Glesson, that of surrealism. the "decade of anger", a non-conformist revolt, spans the late 1930s to the late 1940s. A strong national consciousness is asserted for the first time. The artist Sidney Nolan casts his corrosive eye on Australian history, its breeders and settlers.
Straddling two cultures, Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), originally from the Arrernte people, was raised by Catholic parents. He quickly returned to his roots and rejoined his tribe. But in 1934, he met the painter Rex Battarbee, who introduced him to watercolor. Namatjira knew a growing success with his landscapes bathed in light and full of details.
Australian Photographers
Among the first Australian photographers, the adventurer James Francis "Frank" Hurley (1885-1962) adopted the camera and then the still camera to immortalize his discoveries. His expeditions led him to Antarctica. During the two world wars, he was the official photographer of the Australian army. Not content with documenting events and places, he decided to retouch his images. He even went so far as to do real reconstructions, which drew the wrath of the purists.
Nowadays, a fringe of Australian photography plays with the boundaries of representation. Proposals like that of Justine Khamara, a Melbourne artist born in 1971, blur the boundaries between photography, collage and three-dimensional creation. The artist cuts out her photographic portraits to recompose intriguing sculptures.
Sonia Payes, born in 1956, merges photography, sculpture and multimedia to produce dystopian universes. Her themes revolve around the interdependence of man and nature, and regeneration. His Ice Warriors are intended to help humanity find solutions to environmental issues. Represented by Scott Livesey Galleries in Melbourne, she participated in the Sydney Contemporary 2019 fair. In Melbourne, multimedia art is featured at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Petrina Hicks (b. 1972) distorts the teaser language of commercial photography to question female identity. The result is unconventional portraits, such as Shenae and Jade, which shows a glossy model holding a parakeet in her mouth.
Contemporary art
The dialogue between Western and Aboriginal artists continues to grow. Some projects build bridges between the two cultures, such as Sea of Hands, a work by Fiona Mac Donald that consists of a set of plastic hands planted in the desert. Through her work, she alerts us to the need to respect the land of the Aborigines. The photographer Alastair Mc Naughton has lived among the Aborigines; from this experience, he has brought back precious images of their daily life.
Some artists settled in big cities have opened the way to an urban Aboriginal art. Considered the pioneer of this trend, the sculptor and painter Lin Onus (1948-1996) is of Aboriginal and Scottish origin. Self-taught, he stands out for his social conscience. Onus, a bodybuilder by trade, uses his skills to create sculptures full of irony and originality.
Born in 1961, Walangari Karntawarra Jakamarra belongs to the "stolen generation", that of children taken from their parents for adoption. As a result, he received a Western education. Thus, in his work, he reappropriates Western standards to evoke the Dreamtime.
At the forefront of the avant-garde, Brett Whiteley (1939-1992) won a grant in 1960 that allowed him to travel. The Tate Gallery in London bought his painting Untitled Red Painting, which brought him immediate recognition. In 1967, he settled in New York. In the midst of the Vietnam War, he spoke out in favor of peace in his series The American Dream. His painting Alchemy adorns the cover of an album by the band Dire Straits.
Street art circuit
Street art is alive and well in Australia. Fintan Magee, born in 1985, fell into the world of graffiti at the age of 13, before moving on to figurative frescoes. His monumental, hyper-realistic portraits attract attention the world over. His levitating figures illustrate the decline of consumer society and global warming. In Sydney, he recently warned of the ravages of gentrification by painting The Riders on the façade of the Alexandria Hotel.
In Australia's major cities, frescoes and graffiti flood public and artistic spaces. An overview of the continent? In Canberra, street artists have 30 "open space" sites at their disposal to express themselves freely, with the support of the city council. Alleys, sheds and storage tanks have been covered with creations of all kinds. On the outskirts, the trendy districts of NewActon and Braddon are popular with graffiti artists.
In Sydney, head for Surry Hills, home to the Brett Whitely Museum (Raper Street). In a more alternative vein, Sydney's Newtown and Enmore neighborhoods reveal the nuggets of local street art. Some are commissioned by homeowners eager to add an arty touch to their homes.
The Darwin Street Art Festival attracts renowned artists every year. This project grew out of the success of the Bagot Painting Home Project in the north of the city.
In Brisbane, public artworks abound on Brisbane Burnett Lane. Between design boutiques and trendy cafés. Here too, the Street Art Festival adds a colorful touch to the urban landscape.
The world capital of street art, Melbourne is home to a number of street art spots. Hosier Street, Rutledge Street and Centre Place are among the finest outdoor art galleries in the country. Typically Australian, the Silo Art Trail invites you to discover works of art created on silos. The Silo Art Trail in Victoria offers a wonderful off-the-beaten-track route. Grandiose and... so Australian! You can also discover the Silo Art Trail in other Australian states.
