| Douglas Kwarlple Abbott & Doris Thomas | |
|
Douglas Kwarlple Abbot & Doris Thomas
Landscape Paintings from the Central Desert 23 February – 20 March 2010 “Our land is part of us. Deep inside me I miss my country. I might stop in Alice Springs here, and the station owners own the country, but I know in my heart that it’s my county. It’s my land.” Douglas Kwarlple Abbott Although stylistically very different, the paintings of Douglas Kwarlple Abbott and Doris Thomas are united in revealing the complexity and depth of the Indigenous relationship to the landscape. They do not do this by polemic or protestation, but by clear, passionate statements of affection; their love of the landscape is irrefutably revealed in the beauty they find in their desert homelands. Their paintings speak gently, as one might speak to a small child, beaming forth in a heartfelt cascade of colour and form. They sing of spirituality and deep ancestral connections, explaining the cosmos in a simple language that offers a conciliatory entry point into their Indigenous worldview. It is an entry point that does not expect or require an esoteric knowledge of culture or ceremony, but rather, invites the viewer intuitively, using joy and beauty as its lure. Born at Hermannsburg in 1948, Douglas Kwarlple Abbott is one of the leading members of a small, but distinguished group of contemporary artists keeping alive the great watercolour tradition of central Australia pioneered by Albert Namatjira. Abbott grew up near Idracowra on the banks of the Finke River near Alice Springs. As a child, he recalls watching his classificatory grandfather Albert Namatjira paint, alongside the other members of the original Hermannsburg watercolour group. His cousin Clem Abbott advised the young artist to find his own style, which Douglas quickly did, developing a characteristic palette of rich orange, mauve and red, along with a unmistakable attention to the finer details of the desert landscape. Like his forebears, Abbott’s paintings are about reclaiming the landscape, celebrating his connection to country and reasserting his custodianship of the land. Abbot constructs a world of intense beauty and spiritual richness, conceived in awe of the sacred country and the songlines that inform it. In the 1980s, he made this connection even more explicit, adopting elements of the newly recognised ‘dot-painting’ style into his watercolours. More recently, however, he has allowed this inherent spirituality to remain understated – revealed equally powerfully through the beauty he finds in his desert vistas. This is a theme continued in the paintings of Doris Thomas. Thomas was born in 1949 at Deep Well, approximately 80 kilometres south of Alice Springs. Her mother was a Luritja speaker from the Docker River region and her father was from Papunya. With a charmingly naďve brush, Thomas creates an Edenic garden of desert blooms, Spinifex and animals, harmoniously enjoying a plentiful landscape. And yet, these are not prelapsarian elegies to a time before colonialism. A closer view reveals that they are odes to adaption and reconciliation; in Thomas’ depictions of her ancestral country introduced animals such as donkeys, camels and goats live harmoniously alongside native species of birds, emus and kangaroos. In Thomas’ worldview, the desert is a land of plenty – big enough for all. “There is water all over the countryside,’ she declares, ‘all the wildflowers and the Spinifex bushes are blooming.” There are still clouds on the horizon, but far from being ominous, these clouds are the promise of more rain and continued abundance. Under the bounty of this sacred country, Thomas presents a vision of sharing, equality and reconciliation. Doris Thomas and Douglas Kwarlple Abbott paint to demonstrate their continuing connection to the landscape. It might be a landscape of changes – changing light, changing seasons, changing inhabitants – but it is a landscape from which all essence derives. Alison French has noted for Abbott, “He constructs a spiritual world, one that is both timeless and of the now.” The paintings of Doris Thomas and Douglas Kwarlple Abbott are the recordings of the briefest moments – of shifting light and the minutiae of daily life – but the message they present is immutable. It is a vision of unity, compassion and reconciliation. Their paintings offer a way in which we can all share and appreciate the beauty of this great country in which we live. Indigenart, Mossenson Galleries, in conjunction with Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands Art Centre), Alice Springs, is proud to present a new exhibition showcasing these two powerful visions of the central desert. Douglas Kwarlple Abbott & Doris Thomas will be on display at Mossenson Galleries, 41 Derby Street, Collingwood, Victoria, from Tuesday 23 February until Saturday 20 March 2010. Alongside these paintings will be a selection of mixed media sculptures from the artists of Greenbush Art Group, Alice Springs Correctional Centre. We invite you to join us for opening drinks from 2-4pm on Saturday 6 March 2010. For more information, please contact Mossenson Galleries Collingwood on (03) 9417 6694 or art@mossensongalleries.com.au
|
|
| from: | 23-Feb-2010 |
| to: | 20-Mar-2010 |
|
West MacDonnell Ranges Douglas Abbott 36 x 54 cms Watercolour on Paper |
; newWindow.focus())
|
 |
|
|
Western MacDonnell Ranges Douglas Kwarlple Abbott 26 x 36 cm Watercolour on paper |
; newWindow.focus())
|
|
|
|
Ormiston Gorge Douglas Kwarlple Abbott 36 x 54 cmq Watercolour on paper |
; newWindow.focus())
|
|
|
| view more images | |