Ancestral Modern explores the extraordinary transformation in Australian Aboriginal art that began in the 1970s. Instead of making art primarily for each other-whether painted or inscribed on rock walls, on the ground, on bark, or on bodies as part of ceremonies-artists began rephrasing their practices to inform outsiders about the complexities of their cultures and the remarkable lands that Aboriginal communities have managed for centuries.
Many of the paintings in Ancestral Modern initially appear abstract but communicate surprisingly specific observations about places and people, flora and fauna, and Aboriginal history. In three wide-ranging essays and illuminating discussions of fifty individual works, the authors consider how deceptively simple means yield richly multilayered meanings. What appears to be a geometric maze turns into the path of ancestral beings establishing features of the landscape. Canvases resembling maps record memories of sacred ceremonies. Dazzling linear patterns conjure up leaves blown across a windswept desert, and herringbone hatching designates clan identities. Along the way, this collection offers many new visions of Australia-peering underground to see yams grow, trekking over vast salt lakes, following the trail of a blue-tongued lizard, and encountering a lightning-spitting serpent in swirling water.
Two Australian and two American curators each contribute a distinct perspective on this collection of over one hundred artworks that span the Australian continent and the varying approaches to art pursued by diverse Aboriginal communities. Acrylic paintings from the desert, bark canvases from the north, and ochre-painted canvases from the west are joined by new uses of fiber, clay, and photography. Complementing the fully illustrated essays and catalogue entries are a visual glossary, which offers glimpses of the real-life creatures and landscapes that helped inspire the artworks, and a glossary of terms defining some of the essential concepts of Aboriginal culture. Ancestral Modern is dedicated to a vanguard effort by artists who are showing the world another way to experience not only their own country and worldviews but nature itself, wherever it is encountered.

Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art

Arts & Photography

McClusky, Pamela

Caruana, Wally

Corrin, Lisa Graziose

Gilchrist, Stephen

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

Great book featuring Aboriginal art of Australia. 187 illustrations (31 in color) of works of art - paintings, bark paintings, Dreaming images, sculpture, bone coffins, boxes, contemporary art, performance, installations, contemporary painting. Includes glossary, notes / bibliography. Softcover. 216 pages. Measures 6 by 8 inches. Interesting book, nicely illustrated.

Aboriginal Art (World of Art)

Thames&Hudson

Aboriginal artists today practice in the world's longest continuous tradition of art. Widely sought after, Aboriginal art has now taken its place in the collections of the great museums and galleries.This is the first concise survey of the full range of the work of Australia's indigenous artists from all parts of the continent. Building on traditions that stretch back at least fifty millennia, these artists have worked in a variety of contexts, from the sacred realm of ceremony to more public spheres, and in media that include painting, sculpture, engraving, constructions, weaving, and―most recently―photography, printmaking, and textile design. The second edition includes additional illustrations and a new section covering the most recent developments in Aboriginal art. 70 color and 140 black-and-white illustrations

“The semi-abstract images . . . display an eerie beauty that is alternately fascinating, inspiring, and disturbing.” ―Los Angeles Times A superlative introduction to the diversity of Aboriginal art, this concise survey introduces the work of Australia’s indigenous artists from all parts of the continent. For some 50,000 years, Aboriginal artists have built on traditions and worked in a variety of contexts, from the sacred and secret realm of ceremony to more public spheres, and in media that include painting, sculpture, engraving, constructions, weaving, photography, printmaking, and textile design. For the revised edition, a new chapter maps the latest developments across each of Australia’s geographical regions. Updated information and some twenty new illustrations highlight the impact of urban living, the growth of local art centers, and the rise of women artists―all testifying to Aboriginal art’s continued dynamism and vitality. Wally Caruana was Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, from 1984 to 2001. 231 illustrations, 90 in color

Reference

This concise survey showcases the work of Aboriginal artists from across the Australian continent. From Arnhem Land and the desert, the Kimberley and North Queensland, to modern towns and cities, Aboriginal artists have built on traditions that stretch back at least fifty thousand years, working in a variety of contexts from the sacred and secret realm of ceremony to more public spheres. Artwork across all media is included, from painting, sculpture, engraving, constructions, and weaving to the most recent work in photography, printmaking, and textile design. This story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art has now been revised and expanded to include the latest developments across each of Australia's geographical regions. This volume in the celebrated World of Art series includes color illustrations throughout, and is a testament to Aboriginal art's continued dynamism and vitality.

This exhibition catalog of art spans two generations of indigenous Australian artists of the Arnhem Land (one a woman). Includes an introductory history, the Wagilag sisters creation story represented in many of the 101 color plates of bark paintings and craft objects, artist auto/biographies and photos, glossary of Aboriginal terms, and list of the artists and works. Distributed in the US by U. of Washington Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story: 1937-1997

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

The book will include a substantial essay outlining the major developments in Australian art since the 1940s, the reception of Australian art in Britain and the recent rise of Aboriginal printmaking. It will feature 127 works by 61 artists, and include concise artists’ biographies and individual commentaries on the works.

Out of Australia: Prints and Drawings from Sidney Nolan to Rover Thomas

Coppel, Stephen

BRITISH MUSEUM

Australia

Royal Academy of Arts

Bark painting, as practiced by Aboriginal artists of Arnhem Land for millennia, is one of the great traditions of world art, yet it was only recognized as such late in the 20th century. Old Masters: Australia’s Great Bark Artists highlights the work of 40 master painters who have carried one of the oldest continuing traditions of art into the modern era. It features the paintings of Narritjin Maymuru, Yirawala, Mawalan Marika, David Malangi, and their contemporaries. These men of high ritual standing were not only artists, but also ceremonial and clan leaders, philosophers, advocates for land rights and human rights, ambassadors, and politicians, who recognized the power of art as the most eloquent means to build bridges between Aboriginal and European society. The book includes essays by renowned scholars of Aboriginal art, biographies and portraits of the artists, and 122 full-color plates of the paintings, made between 1948 and 1988, from the National Museum of Australia’s rich and extensive collection. This profile of the Museum’s unique collection will serve as lasting documentation of these rare and fragile works that have never before been exhibited or published as a collection.

Old Masters: Australia's Great Bark Artists

Morphy, Howard

Taylor, Luke

Duff, Alisa

National Museum of Australia Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caruana, Wally. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Caruana, Wally

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caruana, Wally. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art

Aboriginal Art (World of Art)

Aboriginal Art (World of Art)

Aboriginal Art (World of Art)

Aboriginal Art (World of Art)

Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story: 1937-1997

Out of Australia: Prints and Drawings from Sidney Nolan to Rover Thomas

Australia

Old Masters: Australia's Great Bark Artists