‘Transitions Now: Contemporary Aboriginal Forms and Images from the Collection’ (6 August 2022 – 18 June 2023) and ‘Transitions: Historic and Contemporary Barks from the Collection 1948–2021’ (20 August 2022 – 10 April 2023) are dovetailing chapters of an exhibition that offers a unique experience of innovative contemporary Aboriginal art alongside eight decades of Australian Aboriginal bark painting.
Transitions Now: Contemporary Aboriginal Forms and Images from the Collection
Innovative textured and sculpted works illustrate Aboriginal Australian artists’ ongoing commitment to declaring their identity and vital presence in contemporary society, demonstrating the immeasurable contribution Aboriginal artists continue to make to Australia’s visual arts culture. Although often still inspired and nourished by ancient traditions and histories, today’s responses are often entirely contemporary – expressed in fresh choices of narratives, materials and techniques.
Transitions: Historic and Contemporary Barks from the Collection 1948–2021
Works painted in crushed earth pigments on sheets of eucalyptus bark and on wooden sculptures depict poetic creation narratives of artists across Australia’s northern coastline, from the Kimberley in Western Australia to far eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Groupings reflect artists’ clan and Country affiliations, mapping the northern Australian landscape and highlighting the extraordinary cultural and linguistic diversity of its peoples. Although the same natural materials are still in use, bark painting has undergone a radical transformation as artists introduce new ways of expression, materials and techniques.
Image: Jonathan Jones, Kamilaroi/Wiradjuri people, Australia b.1978 / untitled (domestic heads or tails) 2009 / Fluorescent tubes with fittings, electrical cords and cable ties / Pair: 62 x 34cm (diam.) (each) / Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2011. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Jonathan Jones.
