“GAIGAI IKA WOEYBADH YATHAREWMKA- Legends Through Patterns from the Past”
“GAIGAI IKA WOEYBADH YATHAREWMKA- Legends Through Patterns from the Past”
Robert Steele Gallery, New York, NY
Jannuary 22, 2009- February 28, 2009
An exhibit featuring contemporary Torres Strait artists Dennis Nona and Alick Tipoti, showed at Robert Steele Gallery from Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 through Saturday, February 28th, 2009.
Dennis Nona (b.1973) and Alick Tipoti (b.1975), Australia’s world-renowned Torres Strait Islander artists, both come from the tiny community of Badu Island off the Cape York peninsula. Nona and Tipoti have been working consistently as print-makers since the early 1990s, and GAIGAI IKA WOEYBADH YATHAREWMKA brings together 60 new prints of remarkable skill, scale and artistic vision.
Nona and Tipoti use traditional knowledge and protocols, combined with a technical mastery of print-making techniques, to illustrate the stories of their island. As Islander people these stories are rich with marine imagery and hunting tales. Zugub, ancestor beings with super-human strength, also frequently appear, representing the interconnectedness between country, traditions and religion in Islander culture.
In the late 19th century, Cambridge University anthropologist Alfred Court Haddon introduced the European world to artifacts from the Torres Strait Islands. In GAIGAI IKA WOEYBADH YATHAREWMKA Nona and Tipoti respond to Haddon’s research in order to bring an international awareness of the Torres Strait Islands into the 21st century.
Both Nona and Tipoti have won international awards for their art. Dennis Nona was the recipient of the Angel Orensanz International Art Award, New York in 2004, and in 2007 became the first Islander to win the overall National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In the January 2009 issue of Australian Art Collector Nona was listed as one of Australia's 50 Most Collectable Artists for the third consecutive year. Tipoti has twice won the works on paper award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Alick Tipoti, Koedal Augadhalaig, linocut, edition of 70, 16x22in, 2008
Alick Tipoti, Mawa Kulail, linocut
Alick Tipoti, Waru Thurul, linocut
Alick Tipoti, Kowbu Maril, linocut, edition of 45, 20x87in, 2008
Denis Nona, Thur, etching, edition of 45, 61x34in, 2008
Denis Nona, Ubirikubiri II, linocut, edition of 45, 47x26in, 2008
For more information regarding these works please contact: Robert Steele
Robert Steele Gallery
Phone: 212-243-0165
Fax: 212-243-1439
Email: info@robertsteelegallery.com
www.robertsteelegallery.com