About The Featured Artist & the Painting of the Month
This month's painting, Sing Out Springs, was painted in 2003. The location is a consistent motifto which David returns in his painting.
Sing Out Springs lies in Yiyili country on Louisa Downs Station, near Halls Creek in the Kimberley. The story goes that in the Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) three men were walking in the country near Yiyili. They were visitors to the country and had not been formerly welcomed into the country, a violation of custom and law.
Not having been properly "introduced" and "welcomed" into the country, the "visitors" came across a large natural spring and bent down to drink the cool water, whereupon The Snake swallowed them up. In David's painting you can see three sets of footprints leading to the water hole; however, there are no footprints walking out.
When a stranger comes to new country they should be welcomed to the country. The traditional way is to use a rock and dip it into the water and wipe the sides of the visitor, just under the arms and down the side of the body. The rock is then thrown back into the water. This is so The Snake can smell the visitor and know that they have been welcomed. David's painting depicts the hills surrounding the water hole. Yiyili is David's traditional country.
David Cox is in his early 30's and learned painting from his father who painted landscapes in water color and was influenced by the Aboriginal aritsts living around Hermannsburg. David's country is west of Warmun towards Fitzroy Crossing, but it is still considered to be in Gija-speaking territory.
New Ground Framing and Design
GSE Video
Muk Muk Aboriginal Art
Hiromi Ashlin
Northern Editions Printmaking
ABC Indigenous Portal
Thriving in the Desert
Warakurna's Blog
Warakurna's Blog
National Indigenous Times
American Eye Blog
Kluge-Ruhe Museum
DESART
Aboriginal Art.Org
ANKAAA
About Collecting
About GSE
Artist of the Month - January
David Cox
David Cox
Sing Out Springs — View Larger Size
Framing art provides two important and tangible benefits: protection and focus. Frames enclose art, providing a protective superstructure and additional surface area so that the paintings, themselves, do not require handling. Framing also provides an aesthetic benefit by focusing the viewer’s attention on the artwork and creating a boundary separating the painting from everything else, thereby keeping the viewer’s attention “inside” the frame.Gallery Sydney-East provides full framing services including in-home/in-office consultations.
Gallery Sydney-East enthusiastically supports efforts to "spread the word" about the world of Australian Aboriginal art and culture. To help "get the message out" we developed an inspirational video that we designed to show at schools and exhibitions. The music group, Donna the Buffalo, generously consented to allow us to incorporate its beautiful song "The Ones You Love" into our Dreamtime presentation. Many of the photos were taken during our most recent trip, where we visited twenty-one art centers across Australia. Additional photos were provided courtesy Austrade (the Australian Trade Commission). We hope you enjoy the show!
Sharon and Mike Mitchell, the owners of Muk Muk Aboriginal Art, supply artworks to galleries and institutions around the world. They have an international reputation for sourcing the finest Aboriginal art and actively work to promote established and emerging artists. Operating since 1996, Muk Muk Aboriginal Art is located in the heart of Central Australia in Alice Springs. As a member of the Indigenous Art Trade Association, Muk Muk is an advocate for ethical and fair trade practices. Gallery Sydney-East is proud to partner with Muk Muk in representing many of the greatest living artists from the Central Desert region.
Hiromi Ashlin is a Sensei-level Japanese calligrapher and origami master from Broome, Australia. Her work is so extraordinary that Gallery Sydney-East has a separate website devoted to her art. She is the only non-Aboriginal artist we represent. Hiromi's works possess a Zen-like quietude that emerges out of an organic environment of powerful movement and color transitions. Each piece requires the assemblage of meticulously folded Japanese papers, calligraphy painting, stippling and washes. We believe Hiromi Ashlin is one of the most unique artists working in Australia today.
Northern Editions Printmaking Studio & Gallery is a terrific resource for affordable original Australian Aboriginal art. They collaborate with individual artists and aboriginal art centers to produce and exhibit limited edition etchings, woodblocks, screenprints, lithographs and linocuts. Founded in 1993, Northern Editions is the longest established producer and publisher of limited edition prints in northern Australia.
This is the Australian Broadcast Corporation's MONSTER indigenous portal. The primary target audience is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but it's an awesome site for everyone interested in Australian Aboriginal issues. In addition to producing the regular weekly Indigenous programs, Awaye!, Message Stick, and Speaking Out, ABC Indigenous generates a large body of Indigenous content across its other networks and platforms. The Indigenous portal aggregates this content and widens it's accessibility to a broader audience. There are hours upon hours of terrific content on this fantastic site.
Here's an opportunity to see how a truly "plugged-in" Art Center functions in one of the remotest areas of Australia. Edwina Circuitt is the blog's chief honcho. She's also Warakurna's long-time director, and a dedicated and devoted helpmate to the community of Warakurna artists in the Ngaayatjarra lands of Western Australia. Edwina's blog is chock-full of happenings and colorful pictures of community artists, shows, events. This blog will provide you with a real "flavor" for the dynamic nature of this thriving art center community.
The National Indigenous Times is an Indigenous Australian affairs newspaper. It was set up by Owen Carriage, the founder of the Koori Mail, in 2002 with other Indigenous and non-Indigenous principals. The paper seeks to build a bridge between black and white Australia by reporting on the tough issues and giving a "warts-and-all" look at Indigenous affairs. NIT strives for better access to news and education for Indigenous Australians and provides non-Indigenous Australians with information about important Indigenous issues. NIT has broken numerous news stories and is a Walkley Award recipient.
Aboriginal Art & Cluture: an American Eye is unquestionably one of the finest resources dealing with Australian Aboriginal art and culture. Will Owen's blog is vast, but easily accessible. His writing is informed by decades of study, on-the-ground experience, close affiliations with artists (painters, musicians, dancers, singers, writers, etc.), managers, academics, government officials, guides and anyone else remotely connected with Australian Aborignial culture. Every new blog posting is a new and exciting experience. It is impeccably organized by categories, dates, and links. This is a "must".
The Kluge-Ruhe Museum of the University of Virginia (UVA), is one of the most important Australian Aboriginal art resources in the United States. A two-hour drive from Washington, D.C. it houses American businessman John W. Kluge's world renowned collection of Australian Aboriginal art. In 1993 Kluge purchased the paintings and archives of the late Professor Edward L. Ruhe. Ruhe's archives now comprise the core of UVA's Kluge-Ruhe Study Center. The museum's staff include a number of accessible, internationally recognized Aboriginal scholars and writers such as Margo Smith, Dominique Cocuzza and Howard Morphy.
The Association of Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Centers ("DESART") is the southern counterpart to ANKAAA. Its mission is to support Central Australian Aboriginal artists and Art Centers and promote a vigorous, ethical, Aboriginal arts industry. DESART has an excellent website that provides access to over forty art centers in the south and central areas of Australia.
Aboriginalart.org is an important portal to numerous Aboriginal-owned and operated Art Center websites in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and parts of Central Australia. Aboriginalart.org is an essential stop for anyone interested in learning about the valuable role played by local art centers in protecting and promoting Australia's Aboriginal artists.
The Association of Northern, Kimberley, Arnhem Aboriginal Artists ("ANKAAA") promotes the Aboriginal arts industry for the benefit of its artists and affliiate organizations. ANKAAA’s main operational funding is provided by the Australian government and represents nearly 5,000 artists from 43 art and craft centers located in the Tiwi Islands and the Darwin/Katherine, Kimberley, and Arnhem Land regions. ANKAAA's website is a valuable resource of information about Aboriginal art in the Top End.
How exactly does the price for a work of art originate and how do you make sure your purchase price corresponds to true market price? The best way to approach a potential art purchase is identical to the way you would approach any other substantial investment, by doing your homework first! Being well prepared will give you a much greater comfort level when investigating the incredibly dynamic market of Australian Aboriginal art.
Aboriginal men and women in remote communities across Australia are creating some of the most compelling and innovative art in the world; it is radical, contemporary, beautiful and alive. Gallery Sydney-East is privileged to represent the finest established and newly emerging Australian Aboriginal artists, and to be involved in introducing them to audiences in the United States.
David Cox is a maturing artist painting out of the Warmun Arts Center in Western Australia. He is in his early 30's and learned painting from his father who was influenced by the Aboriginal aritsts living around Hermannsburg. David's country is west of Warmun towards Fitzroy Crossing, but it is still considered to be in Gija-speaking territory.
