Exhibition Essay:
APY Grandeur
Art Mob presents an exhibition of particular distinction and significance in APY Grandeur, bringing together the work of over two dozen artists from three important artistic communities in the Musgrave Ranges to the north of what we know as South Australia. APY stands for the ‘anangu’ (people) of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the townships of Amata, Ernabella and Fregon. These are some of the most influential Aboriginal art communities operating today.
This show is something of a blockbuster presenting an extraordinary range of works in many styles, with a vast range of subjects and stories and a wonderful array of forms and colours.
The exhibition was opened by the distinguished Winifred Hilliard, the well known co-ordinator at Ernabella between 1954 and 1986, who introduced artmaking to the community and ‘put it on the map’ as she worked in media from spun sheep’s wool to silk batiks and encouraged the local people to participate. From pastel and crayon drawing on cartridge paper to ceramics and, these days, exquisite painting, the Ernabella art community developed and flourished.
Choosing a representative four works, one can see the scope of this exhibition. ‘Perentie Man Creation Story’ (2007), is by Tiger Palpatja Ngintaka Tjukurpa, who is eighty-seven years old and began painting only two years ago. It tells the witty story of Ngintaka, the Perentie man, who, by devious means, steals superior grass seed grinding stones, so his kin can eat more palatable seed cakes. Not surprisingly, he comes to a sorry end. The artist has a unique vision and represents elements in the story in an idiosyncratic way, not necessarily immediately obvious to European eyes.
The patterned central panel is ‘framed’ by a blue background and green circles which are waterholes. The centre features ‘u’ shapes in white, surrounded by brown; these are men and women in a shelter. White dots and dashes represent witchetty grubs, another source of traditional food.
The busyness of the story is matched by the patterning; the colours are beautifully toned and co-ordinated.
Kanytjupai Robin Walka Puitja has created a masterful floral-effect canvas, inspired by the tradition of telling stories through sand-painting, with an earthy, autumnal palette that reflects the constant source of inspiration that is the desert landscape.
Nura Robert Papa presents delightful, naïve style figures of ‘dogs, dingoes and lots of kids’ with a skewed perspective and a limited palette of red, black and white, all of the figures seeming to be the product of a vivid imagination and a good sense of humour.
Harry Tjutjuna Kungkaku paints women and the design he has developed is from ‘looking at women’s bottoms’ – he is interested in finding a new partner, he says, having lost two wives. His work is a series of coloured circles, in undulating formation and it is easy to understand his inspiration, once it has been explained to the viewer!
This is just a taste of the variety of this exhibition – there are numerous other styles, stories, dreamings and depictions. APY Grandeur lives up to its name indeed!
Diana Klaosen 2007
