Exhibitions

The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is very proud to welcome back, after a six year absence, the award winning artist of the Tjala Art Centre, which in recent years has gone through a major surge after bursting on the scene in the late 1990’s, as a female only art centre, with a staple of both young and old artists whom are inspiring the reclassification of the modern Indigenous art movement and the execution of oeuvres in an extremely modern and western approach, yet still remaining true to their traditional ancestral heritage.

Tjintu Kuwaritja Wiru Mulapa - A Great New Day is a celebration of 30 outstanding new works, challenging the viewer to question previously held notions of Indigenous art and its position within today’s fast and modern contemporary art world. Typically large meandering canvases tell of complex, yet fundamental, stories of ownership and land rights fused with whimsical stories of creation handed from generation to generation.

Tjala Arts has launched the careers of several key senior artists including Wawiriya Burton, Ruby Williamson, Tjungkara Ken, Ray Ken and Hector Burton, all of whom will be exhibiting in this strong ensemble of works and the art centre has proven itself to be one with an enormous depth of talent with a core body of emerging artists quickly establishing themselves as well.

To that end several new works by recent Telstra award winner, Barbara Moore, whom develops and explores her Tjukurpa about her country in fluid almost whirlwind like patterns and bold brush stroke format, will be on show alongside other new starlets creating captivating artworks filled with artistic integrity. Known for its diverse range of styles, energetic mark making and rich colorful palate, this show will not disappoint those familiar with the history of Tjala arts.

The artwork from this art centre is represented extensively in both public and private collections within Australia and internationally, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Victoria, the Museé du Quai Branly - France, AAMU - Holland and the South Australian Museum. In addition in recent years the art centre has had a huge amount of success winning major art prize awards across the northern and western deserts of Australia as the wider audience acknowledge an amazing success story of the modern Indigenous art movement.

The exhibition opens on Wednesday, 5th March and runs till Saturday, 5th April 2014 and it is a must-see for anyone interested in following the development of modern contemporary Indigenous art, from one of the Aboriginal art movements most refreshing and innovative art centres.

The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is very proud to announce its first ever exhibition in Portola Valley, California, with a collection of rare Australian Indigenous art, the oldest living art tradition in the world, devoid of ego and construction but seeped in spiritual knowledge and truth.

Characterised by its regional diversity and by the different historical experiences various groups of Indigenous people have had, Songlines Travelling to America aims to bring a top quality survey show of the absolute best that has emerged from the most important community art centres across Australia over the last 25 years.

Indigenous art relates to stories of the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime is the Creation Period in Aboriginal belief, when Ancestral Beings formed the land and created the people, the plants and the animals. The particularities of the Dreamtime vary between different Indigenous groups which inhabit Australia. Often depicted in the art, these Ancestral Beings may take human, animal, plant or combined forms. They taught the people their laws and ceremonies. The Dreamtime stories depicted in Aboriginal art reveal centuries of history, and demonstrate a respect and passion for their culture, as well as a detailed knowledge of the land which often occupies a very sacred place in the hearts of many Indigenous people.

These canvases give direct access to part of the artist’s conceptual world. Each individual painting tells a story, which represents a particular song, dance, ancestral site, or territory and its land resources. The paintings tell of a harmony between Indigenous people and nature, and the importance on ensuring human survival without destruction. One of the great advantages of Aboriginal art is the diversity within and between regional traditions. It is therefore impossible to see a single direction of its movement, which is what makes it so interesting and unpredictable. Different groups and individuals have their own geographical boundaries, traditions, and cultural practices which their art draws on.

Aboriginal art has started to commanded global attention, and this will hopefully lead to the greater appreciation of these people and their incredible skill, as well as allow further insight into Aboriginal culture. It has paved the way for a greater understanding of the Indigenous Australian way of life, and has created a sustainable means for the social and economic empowerment of these people, which can enable them to share with the world their unique and ancient culture.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, 1st February and runs till Monday, 31st March 2014 and it is a must-see for anyone interested in following the development of modern contemporary Indigenous art and the best the modern Indigenous art movements has to offer, thousands of miles from its original home.

The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is very proud to announce the first ever exhibition in Singapore from the Lockhart River Art Centre, which in recent years has gone through a major resurgence after bursting on the scene in the mid-90s with a staple of young, inspiring, modern focused Indigenous artists, painting in an extreme modern and western approach. 

The artists of Lockhart River Art Centre were identified from the very early years, both nationally and internationally, as “The Art Gang”.  The Art Gang formed in 1995 with a group of young artists just out of school.  In the same sense that those who worked on the roads were called the “The Road Gang”, this young group of teenagers worked on art.

Lockhart River Aboriginal community is 850kms north of Cairns and is nestled between Quintell Beach and nearby lush lowland rain forest, which boasts a bird life that draws watchers from across the world. The beach is dramatic and spectacular and features as a common thread in the artists’ work.

Many of the language groups from this area have traditionally lived close to the beach which has always provided an excellent source of food.  Fishing is still one of the most popular pastimes at Lockhart River.

Puuya Kuntha - Strong Heart, will be the first ever international solo show of Irene Namok, the mother of renowned founding Lockhart River artist Rosella Namok; whom in recent years has become an accomplished and highly collectable artist in her own right.  Irene’s paintings are inspired by her close connection with local country; they are often emotional responses to the beautiful views and look-outs around Lockhart and her favourite fishing spots, where Irene especially enjoys fishing during Salmon Season.

The extremely abstract nature of her work has been received with huge acclaim by the global art community and her two previous solo shows in Australia were both sold out as collectors strived to add her modernity to their Indigenous and contemporary art collections.  He work, which has been likened to the works of such greats like Gerhard Richter the abstract and photorealistic artist that took Europe by storm in the 60-70s,  retains a freshness and intoxicating hold over its viewers which is remarkable given the untrained and natural origins of Irene’s painting career. 

Irene comments ‘I was born on Thursday Island and my grandfather was a church minister at the Old Site. I was going to get married but the man I was going to marry died. I have got six kids. Four boys and two girls, but one of my girls died so now I only have one.

I like to paint about my culture because it’s all I know. The old ones have taught me and show me everything.

My paintings are about my emotions. I paint about the bush fires and the waterholes. I paint the lagoons because we like to swim in the lagoons. I also paint about meetings times and festivals times and meeting places. We dress the kids all up and paint them all and we sit together and we yarn around the fireplace under the moonlight.

The exhibition opens on Tuesday, 14th January and runs till Saturday, 1st March 2014 and it is a must-see for anyone interested in following the development of modern contemporary Indigenous art, from one of the Aboriginal art movements most refreshing and innovative art centres. 

The show will be attended by Irene Namok herself, accompanied by Ms. Robbi Neal, Artistic Director of Lockhart River Arts Indigenous Corporation.

For further information please contact Giorgio Pilla on +65 8113 5333. Email: info@redotgallery.com or check our website:  www.redotgallery.com

The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is proud to welcome back the beautiful works from Australia’s foremost Aboriginal owned art centre, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd. This exhibition will represent the 10th annual showing in Singapore of the stunning work by the desert masters.

This year’s show, simply titled after the 3 men showing ‘George Tjungurrayi, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa & Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (A Collection of Works), brings together the finest body of works amassed for many a year from the company’s most senior law-men, linked by the culture and myths of their joint custodial stories.

The three artists have a strong link to their country and their works have become synonymous with the beautiful landscapes of the areas around both Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, the two spiritual painting homes of the artists of Papunya Tula. Ronnie has been involved in the Papunya Tula Movement from the very origins in 1971 and was celebrated in the recent Tjukurrtjanu Board shows at both the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne and the Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris and both George and Warlimpirrnga, whom had first white contact in the mid-1980’s in what has become known as the famous last first contact experience, have carved equally impressive careers over the 40 or so years the company has now been in operation.

These artists, together with other Pintupi men and women, are the custodians of important sacred sites relating to the Tingari Song Cycle and the works epitomize this highly recognized execution method. The Tingari people were a group of ancestral beings who travelled over vast areas of the Western Desert, performing rituals and creating or "opening up" the country. They were usually accompanied by recently-initiated novices to whom they provided ceremonial instruction relating to the cultural law of the region.

At the many sites that make up these songlines, groups of Tingari people held ceremonies, experienced adversity and had adventures, in the course of which they either created or became the physical features of the sites involved. The oral narratives that describe these adventures stretch to thousands of verses, and provide countless topographical details that would assist nomadic bands to navigate and survive in the arid landscape.

Come and see the work of some of Australia’s most celebrated Aboriginal mens and learn more about their ancestral stories. The roundels, lines and interlocking designs embedded in their paintings tell you of these ancient rituals. Soft natural colours, bold secretive brush movements and traditional iconography all act to preserve the sacred and important stories of Australia’s Western Desert Art movement.

The exhibition opens on Wednesday 23rd October and runs till Saturday 30th November 2013 and it is a must see for anyone interested in following the development of Papunya Tula Artists, one of the Aboriginal art movements most important art centers. The show will be opened by Mr. Ben Danks, Assistant General Manager of Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd.

ReDot Fine Art Gallery is honoured and excited to be able to release a stunning body of works from the heart of the Modern Contemporary Indigenous Art movement. Tjungu Palya is an artist-run art-centre, in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far north west of South Australia.

With many of their artists ‘first contact’ bush people, they retain strong cultural knowledge and a willingness to share what is appropriate to people of other cultures. Promoting traditional arts practices while also encouraging new forms of artistic expression in the re-telling of the Tjukurpa (‘Dreaming’ - Law), the stories virtually leap off each canvas, begging the viewer to look more deeply for meaning and consequence.

Tjintu Kutjupa Tjintu Kutjupa - Desert Days, brings some of the most important Indigenous artists of the day to Singapore in a collection of gems that resonate with an abundance of cultural integrity, vivid colours, mesmerising designs and deep knowledge, encapsulating a celebration of ceremony, ancestry and landscape.

As children, the now senior Tjungu Palya artists lived a traditional nomadic life travelling in small family groups. Their traditional lifestyle continued until the 1930s, when desert people were migrated to Ernabella and Warburton missions, initially as a result of the assimilation policy of the day but also due to terrible drought and the atomic testing at Maralinga.

The desire to return to their own country remained critical to the community elders throughout this time, and by the 1960s families began returning to their lands and establishing small remote settlements. In spite of the interruption, the extreme remoteness of this area and the continued connection to the land has contributed to the maintenance of an Aboriginal lifestyle rich in ceremonies and traditional observances.

Tjungu Palya artists have powerful spiritual links to their country, and produce paintings that are exuberant and have highly individual compositions depicting their myth cycles embedded in the topography of the land. Join us to be mesmerized by this latest journey through the Australian outback as we look at works by highly collectable master of the Modern Indigenous Art movement as well as new starlets that have emerged over the last few years to carry the torch of this Art movement forward with vigor and much positive expectations despite the challenging times that lie ahead for these nomadic, cultural warriors!