Transitions

‘Transitions’ charts the evolution of Aboriginal art from 1940s to the present through early bark painting representations of the country’s ancestral creators and its fauna, to recent bold explorations of materials and subjects that reflect vibrant contemporary cultural and aesthetic transitions.

The exhibition includes some of the earliest bark paintings to enter a State collection – rare works gifted to the Gallery from the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land – and a major new gift of historical barks from collector Robert Bleakley. A focused group of innovative contemporary images and sculptures also featured by celebrated artists including Gunybi Ganambarr, Shirley Macnamara and Jonathan Jones.

‘Transitions’ spans seven decades of the art of First Nations people in a rare opportunity to experience the breadth of one of the world’s richest and most ancient of artistic expressions.