Judith Ryan: Of paint and possession 3.

Aboriginal art has moved to the forefront
of contemporary art practice in Australia

Central Desert acrylic paintings

Central Desert acrylic painting began as a form of political activism produced by male elders experiencing a profound sense of diaspora. Ultimately, it became an art form that has earned its place as important contemporary art in a mainstream context.

It never loses its political, social and cultural message, but since the artists began to work as individuals, it has evolved, strictly on its own terms.

As with other forms of modern art, the audience was slow to grasp the power and significance of Papunya Tula art. Arrogant purists, ignorant of the meaning or antiquity of Central Desert iconography, doubted the authenticity and validity of an Aboriginal art form that was not composed of organic materials and was made for the art market is surging in popularity now, facilitated by a plethora of solo and survey exhibitions over a period of three decades.

This revelation of the power and magnitude of the artists' achievements over a period of three decades the fact that Australians have been looking at, thinking about and absorbing the new form of this art for at least 20 years, powerfully demonstrates that a new form of landscape painting has emerged, one that is conceptual and abstract and holds in equipoise an aerial perspective of country and the idea of being close to the ground.

The success of the movement is not confined to a small group of artists throughout the Central and Western deserts, but has had a big bang effect on other forms of Aboriginal art made in widely different contexts. As a result of their brilliant contribution, Aboriginal art in all its diversity has moved from the periphery to the forefront of contemporary art practice in Australia.

In asserting the importance of land and their inalienable oneness with it, Aboriginal artists are making art that is profoundly spiritual and political which now underscores the way we perceive Australia.

The conjunction of archetypal designs and modern materials results in a rich and potent art form that speaks with a new voice and lays bare an essential difference, of cultural identity and perception, which cuts very deep.

The best Aboriginal works are no longer trapped in an ethnographic category but possess a unique aesthetic aura born of truth. Rather than appearing as a tokenistic and marginalised inclusion within post-1788 Australian art, it is time to give due recognition to the art tradition that long predates it.

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