AAMU
 

Paddy Bedford - Crossing Frontiers

AAMU is proud to present Crossing Frontiers, the first solo exhibition of Paddy Bedford outside Australia. Paddy Bedford (Nyunkuny), who built up a rich oeuvre in a short period of eight years, is regarded as one of the most important, contemporary artists of Australia. Forty of his canvases and gouaches of the Paddy Bedford Estate have been brought to the Netherlands from Australia specially for this exhibition. The exhibition also includes works of various private collections and the Essl Museum in Vienna.

Bedford's work has a completely unique, distinctive style: it is very graphic, with striking colours, and sparse but precisely placed lines, often punctuated by white dots. The works depict the landscape where he lived his whole life and travelled as a stockman, in combination with the Dreamtime stories of the emu, turkey and cockatoo associated with his family. Also featured in his work are historical events, such as the Bedford Downs Massacre - the brutal murder of a group of family members in the early 20th century in retaliation for killing a bullock. One thing certainly made clear by Paddy Bedford's outstanding canvases and gouaches is that any fixed ideas about Aboriginal art can be discarded.

Paddy Bedford was one of eight artists commissioned to deliver a permanent work for the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris, opened in 2006. His work was honoured in 2006 with a grand retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

About Paddy Bedford:

Paddy Bedford (c. 1922 - 2007) was born at Bedford Downs Station, a big cattle station in the Kimberley in Western Australia. He belonged to the Gija people. His family history was marked by a number of brutal events resulting from clashes between white colonists and the original population.

He worked as a stockman, and as a senior law man (a person who has the authority within the group to determine correct customs and traditions) he was involved throughout his life in painting for ceremonial purposes. It was only in 1998 that his talent was discovered and that he began to paint on canvas. Solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin soon drew the praise of art critics and his work was being recognised as being groundbreaking. Works by Bedford are now included in many international collections.

This exhibition is supported by:
Paddy Bedford Estate, Australia
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
Rio Tinto, Perth, Australia
Australian Embassy Netherlands
Arnold Bloch Leibler Lawyers and Advisors
Hakker van Rooijen printers, the Netherlands




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