Don’t miss the mesmeric exhibition of Aboriginal art that is opening in Wimbledon Village right now.
Titled simply Australian Indigenous Art, the show contains recent works by substantial and internationally recognised artists from the Eastern and Western Desert whose paintings appear in galleries around the world.
The colours are so luminous, the paint is applied so delicately and with such detail, and the patterns are so subtle and organic that the images appear to move and flex upon the canvas.
Kathleen Ngala
As well as their beauty as art works, the images are lessons drawn from millennia of Aboriginal survival lore specific to one area, one family or group.
Some have the quality of maps. Some are described as the dreaming of an animal or plant, while others refer to ritual Men’s Business or Women’s Business.
Some appear naive and charming, some are ethereal, some are stern and rhythmic. Most are large, a metre or so across.
Sally Kemarre Perkins
Even without being able to understand all that the artist implied, the Western viewer can sense that the images are alive with layers and layers of meaning.
You will have to hurry, because the show is only open for a week, from Sunday to Sunday, in the private home of exhibition curator Sarah-Jane Holden.
A parting word of advice – don’t imagine you can breeze round in ten minutes. You’ll probably find that you are drawn deeper into each image and will want some time to appreciate them.
Australian Aboriginal Art is on display at 9 Parkside Avenue, Wimbledon Village, SW19 5ES, daily from 11am to 4pm, December 4 – 11. Entry is free and no booking is required.
By our Arts Blogger, Jenny Booth
Follow: @culturevult
Visit: mediastarsite.wordpress.com
About The Author
Jenny Booth
Jenny was a news journalist for The Times. An ex-teacher, mum, gardener and art lover, there’s nothing she doesn’t know about the local culture scene…