Lockhart, Moree and Warmun

Works by indigenous artists in Australia are generally pushed under the label of "aboriginal art" but they differ quite a bit in different parts of the country. Of course the underlying themes of country and family loosely bind them but these are by no means confining.  I thought I would put up a few pieces - mostly culled from Hogarth Galleries - to illustrate how different they are.  This is merely a sampling of course.

The Lockhart River Gang is fairly young and a lot of their work has attracted quite a bit of interest because it draws from tradition and yet breaks away from it.  I saw some of their work in Queensland (they are from the Cape York region of the state). Namok is probably the most famous and the most collectable of the group but I quite liked Fiona Omeenyo's work (Family Gathering right below).

There are also newer areas that are drawn into the  aboriginal art scene in the country. I don't recall anyone from northern NSW at the Garma Festival in 2003 but Brent Beale (below) appears to be from that region.  His work seems to draw heavily on country, the picture to the left is titled Roads and Paddocks whilst that to the right is a representation of the Mehi River in the region.

Paintings by Warmun artists were some of the first that I saw and they remain artwork that I am  most responsive to.  It sounds a bit precious but I do find a certain desert purity and spirituality about these paintings. Picture to the left is Waterholes by Tommy Caroll and to the right is Mabel Juli's work.