Beautiful art proper way online

BEAUTIFUL ART/PROPER WAY

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda, Jane Mervin, Lance James Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, Alice Springs

MAY 19 - JUNE 3, 2018

Empowerment through art Beautiful Art/Proper Way showcases joyous paintings of Central Australia whose small scale belies their vast subject matter. Noteworthy artists Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda, Jane Mervin and Lance James from Bindi Mwerre Anthurre artists Alice Springs are all disabled artists with restricted mobility, yet their imaginations run free in these colour filled paintings that capture the essence, beauty and life of the region with wit, humour and engaging individuality. Western Arrernte painter Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda captures the daily activities of the region’s visitors as well as its traditional owners. Kenda’s Central Australia is no static, empty landscape but one in which tourists clamber up rocky outcrops and crowd on to buses and cars, noses pressed eagerly to windows as they drink in the views. Helicopters hover over the MacDonnell Ranges – a quizzical kangaroo peeking from behind a rock as eagles swoop through an intense blue sky.

In contrast to Kenda’s populated views, the paintings of Lance James from the more remote Pitjantjatjara community of Docker River offer a wider take on the desert landscape. Having observed the regions’ many wild horses and stockmen since childhood, he portrays them traversing the lands rounding up cattle, mustering, droving or simply riding through the wide outback. Jane Mervin draws inspiration from owls, nature; flowers, hills and trees which she paints with quirky vibrancy.

Bindi Mwerre Anthurre The art careers of all three artists are made possible by the social enterprise art studio Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists. Established in 2000, Bindi assists disabled Aboriginal artists living in or near Alice Springs to achieve cultural enrichment and empowerment by assisting them to develop a career in fine art. Approximately 6-8 artists with a range of disabilities work regularly in the studio. Their art has developed a distinctive and high profile place in the Australian art world with works in leading collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art Gallery and Museum of the Northern Territory.

Billy Tjamptijtinpa Kenda Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda is a Luritja speaker who was born in 1972 at the Aboriginal community of Jay Creek in the West Macdonnell Ranges, his mothers’ country. His father was a Ngaatjatjarra man from Docker River. He started painting in the Mwerre Anthurre Artists Studio in 2004 with landscapes that are full of texture with a strong sense of country. In them he captures - with both drama and humour - the daily activities of the region’s visitors as well as its traditional owners with acute observation born from a clear love of his Central Australian home.

In Kenda’s Central Australia, tourists clamber up rocky outcrops and crowd onto buses and cars, noses pressed eagerly to windows as they drink in the views. Helicopters zoom through gorges and hover over the West Macdonnell Ranges; quizzical kangaroos appear from behind rocks as eagles swoop majestically through the intense blue of the wide outback sky.

A much-exhibited and very popular artist, Kenda has been a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and his work is in the collection of Artbank and several public collections.

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda/5

Above: 19. Family Drivin' Home to Imanpa Community, 30 x 30.5cm $290 Below: 18. Utu (Areyonga) , 26 x 20cm $240

Above:15. Taking this stuff to Mary Community, 24.5 x 24.5cm $370 
 Below: 16. Merrabelle Country, 30.5 x 20cm $280

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /7

17. That Man Lookin’ at Cockatoos, 36 x 25cm $330

13. Two boys and their father climbing up the hill to see Country, 30.5 x 30cm $350

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /9

14. Two Kids Playin’ on the Hill, 30 x 29cm. $350

11. Goin’ to Alice Springs from Titjikala Community, 30.5 x 29.5cm $350

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /11

12. Tourists Lookin’ at Water Flowin’in the River, 30 x 20cm $260

10. People in the helicopter looking at the people in the car looking at the people in the helicopter
 30 x 30cm $350

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /13

Top to bottom: 7. All Them Tourists Going to Town & Two Blokes Going C amping, 25 x 122cm $1200
 1. Tourist Drive, 30cm x 121.5cm $1400 | 2. Lookout at Alice Springs and Jay Creek, 25.5 x 122cm. $1200

6. Tourists look around countryside from the helicopter, 65 x 40cm $980

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /15

4. After the Rain, 61 x 46cm $1100

5. Plane Crash Somewhere in the Middle of the Desert, 44.5 x 44.5cm $780

Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda /17

3. Untitled, 61 x 46cm $ 1100

Jane Mervin Jane Mervin is from the Pitjantjatjara community of Amata and came to Alice Springs in the early 2000s.

For three years she was a student at Batchelor College, receiving a Certificate 2 in Arts and Craft.

Painting since around 2008, Jane draws inspiration from colours, owls, nature; flowers, hills and trees. It is these subjects that connects Jane to her family and country.

Increasingly Jane’s art has flourished, showing great confidence in brushstrokes, fine details and vibrancy. She is producing texture-rich canvases and elaborate works on paper that demonstrate her passion for art and above all a close connection to community.

Referring to her favourite subject, Tjulpu (birds) and especially owls, she says “At night time the owls come in to visit. I can hear them, I look for them. I see the owl and the moon and then I go to sleep.”

Jane’s delightful bird paintings have become hugely successful and have proved popular in every venue in which they have been shown.

Jane Mervin/19

24. Tjulpu Kutjara Nyanganyi (Two Birds Standing), 30.5 x 30cm $370

21. Tjulpu Pullka (Big Bird) 30.5 x 30.5cm $380


Jane Mervin/21

26. Kookaburra in Tree, 40 x 30cm. $470

22. Kookabura, 40 x 34.5cm $480.

28. Tjulpu Tjuktjuku Nyananyi ( Little Bird) $320

Jane Mervin /23

23. Tjulpu Kutju Nyanganyi, 30.5 x 30cm. $380

25. Tjulpu Nyinanyi Kapi Pulka, 30 x 30cm $350

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26. Trees and Bird and Sky, 30.5 x 20cm. $350

Lance James

Lance James is a Pitjantjatjara man from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) south west of Uluru. Lance has been painting at Mwerre Anthurre Artists Studio since 2009.

He still lives at Docker River but comes to Alice for respite.

His energetic and impressionistic paintings offer both a wide take on the desert landscape and a sense of engagement with the stockman’s life he has lived since a boy.

Having observed the regions’ many wild horses and stockmen since childhood, James portrays them traversing the lands rounding up cattle, mustering, droving or simply riding through the wide outback.

The expressionistic, painterly manner in which he captures the movement of the horses and elements such as wind as well as the natural features of the land such as trees and mountain ranges has been acclaimed by collectors and art enthusiasts alike.

Lance James /27

36, Docker River Cowboy, 20 x 46cm $450

29. Untitled, 30 x 20cm $280

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Top: 33 One Black Brumby in Bush County, 15 x 46cm $380 Below:34 Black Brumby at Docker, 19.5 x 46cm $450

31 Untitled, 61 x 31cm $780

Lance James/31

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30. Untitled, 20 x 46cm $385

32. Wild Horses, Docker River, 30.5 x 60.5 $780

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35. Wild Brumby at Bungabiddy Rockhole, 19 x 46cm $395

At this atmospheric home gallery in the Mornington Peninsula’s beautiful hinterland, you can find a wide range of fine quality Aboriginal and abstract art selected by two of Australia’s most respected art experts.

Home of the McCulloch family of art writers, curators and gallery directors for more than 65 years, Whistlewood has a rich artistic legacy. Here you can explore Australia’s Indigenous art – to find that special piece, attend exhibitions, talks and our unique Art Parades.

Open: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays 11am-4pm (Spring through Autumn. Winter hours may vary) 642 Tucks Road, Shoreham, 3916 T: +61 3 59 898282. | M; 0419 896473 E: Info@mccullochandmcculloc.com.au mccullochandmcculloch.com.au FB @whistlewood Insta @mccullochandmccullochart Twitter @McCandMcC