The Nevada Museum of Art showcases No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting now through May 3.
Drawn from the collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl, No Boundaries features the work of nine trailblazing artists who were at the forefront of Australia’s Aboriginal art movement: Paddy Bedford, Jananggoo Butcher Cherel, Prince of Wales (Midpul), Tommy Mitchell, Ngarra, Bill Joongoora Thomas, Boxer Milner Tjampitjin, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri and Tjumpo Tjapanangka.
Each artist was a respected senior Lawman, knowledgeable in every aspect of Aboriginal ceremonial traditions.
Inspired by these ancient cultural practices, they forged one of the most dynamic painting movements of recent times. Despite coming to art late in life, and being mostly unknown to one another, they were innovators of the highest order.
Where their predecessors in the early 1970s had drawn on cartographic and figurative imagery, these men forged a new path in abstract images that broadened the possibilities of Aboriginal art.
On Thursday, February 26, 6 p.m., the Museum also presents a free screening of Utopia, an award-winning 2013 film is an epic portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture and an investigation into a suppressed colonial past and rapacious present. From Australian documentary filmmaker John Pilger.
Lead sponsorship for “No Boundaries” was shared by Nancy and Martin Cohen. Supporting Sponsorship by Bally Technologies, Crol Ann and John Badwick, John H.O. La Gatta, Stremmel Gallery, and Whittier Trust Company of Nevada.
During the last three years the Nevada Museum of Art has been working with Aboriginal artists who live in the remote Paruku region of Western Australia on a unique art & science project led by Australian painters Mandy Martin and Kim Mahood, and conservationist-rancher Guy Fitzhardinge. The paintings and materials generated by both the Aboriginal and kartiya (non-indigenous) artists were donated to the Center for Art + Environments Archive Collections in 2013 and exhibited here in the summer and fall of 2014.
The Nevada Museum of Art is a museum of ideas. The only accredited art museum in the state, it is a private, non-profit organization supported by the generosity of its membership as well as by sponsorships and grants. Through creative programming and scholarship, the Museum provides the opportunity for people to encounter, engage and enjoy a diversity of art experiences. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, late on Thursdays until 8 pm, and closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and national holidays. Admission is FREE for members, $10 General Admission, $8 Student / Senior, $1 children 6 to 12 years and free for children 5 and under. Annual Museum Membership starts at just $30. More at NevadaArt.org.
