Abstraction & the Dreaming:

Aboriginal Paintings from Australia’s Western Desert (1971 – Present)

September 12 - December 12, 2015

The Western Desert of Australia is a vast region that is home to Aboriginal people from various language and cultural groups. They share a common world view based on Tjukurrpa,or the Dreaming. Dreaming narratives, which contain a vast body of knowledge about specific geographical features, animals, plants and natural elements are the collective responsibility of men and women who ensure their preservation through song, story and imagery. Traditionally, art from this area was painted on the body or drawn in the sand. Such ephemeral images have inspired more permanent contemporary art forms, specifically acrylic paintings on masonite board and canvas.

Beginning in 1971, at a government settlement called Papunya, a group of Aboriginal men produced paintings with materials supplied by a white school teacher named Geoffrey Bardon. The Papunya painters used iconography to illustrate their knowledge about the Dreaming and related ceremonial practices. Symbols like concentric circles, lines and animal tracks, as well as graphic depictions of ritual objects used in men’s ceremonies figured prominently in early Western Desert art. Because some of these designs were associated with men’s ceremonies, women did not participate in the early years of art production.

The activity of painting has since spread from Papunya to other communities throughout the Western Desert. References to men’s ceremony were replaced by more generic symbols, and women began painting their own works, employing new styles and aesthetic choices.Moreover, the formal correlation between design and content has changed over time with a gradual shift from the use of symbols and toward greater abstraction. Today these artworks are interpreted and experienced as contemporary abstract paintings, igniting a rich dialogue about Indigenous art in the contemporary art world.

Dr. Margo Smith, Guest CuratorDirector and Curator of Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, University of VirginiaWe wish to acknowledge the lenders of works in this exhibition: John Wilkerson(USU Class of 1965) and Barbara Wilkerson, Dennis and Debra Scholl, Stephen Luzco, and  Julie Harvey. We also thank the curators of the exhibition Icons of theDesert, Roger Benjamin and Andrew C. Weislogel, whose text panels and labels have been adapted for this exhibition.

This exhibition is made possible with support of Utah State University’s TannerTrust, the generosity of our donors, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Utah Division of Arts & Museums.