Aborigine Art from Australia
The Seattle Art Museum has a fine collection of Aborigine art that isn’t always on display. I saw a few pieces and a video of an artist painting with a stick outdoors sitting on her canvas. I found it exciting and I looked forward to seeing more when I visited in Australia. The two below give the flavor of art from Western Australia that was on display in Seattle. The paintings are maps of stories or journeys taken and indicate places to stop and rest and other useful notes.
The Leeuwin Estate Winery in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, is a large property with a high level restaurant, tasting room, gift shop and art gallery. Big name stars perform outdoors while the crowd picnics. The winery purchases art most every year to use as a wine label. I loved the Aborigine art in this gallery. It was colorful and upbeat. Click or touch the images to make them pop-up and swipe left to view all the images in larger format.
Perth has a fabulous venue, The Art Gallery of Western Australia. We took a guided tour of an aboriginal exhibit inside and showed ourselves the paintings on the exterior of the building which tell a story. I loved the detail on the snake, another story of sorts and would make handsome jewelry. The neon sign, moorditj, means strong and fast in the Noongan language from a tribe with 45,000 years of history in Western Australia.
Public art nearby included a dramatic metal sculpture of a man and a building that looked dangerous. One of the symbols frequently used is a white rabbit. Anytime you see that you know there was a white man in the way. It is not a coincidence the red bullseye makes you think of Target stores. This aboriginal art is one more fascinating aspect of Australia I will remember and treasure. Click or touch the images to make them pop-up and swipe left to view all the images in larger format.
