MCA SUMMER SEASON

BARDAYAL ‘LOFTY’ NADJAMERREK

Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek was an important and acclaimed Aboriginal artist, leader, storyteller and conversationalist. Born in Western Arnhem land, he was a great master rock painter and started painting commercially in 1969. Nadjamerrek was only one of two Aboriginal Northern Territorians to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia and was given a state funeral following his death in 2009. In the first major exhibition of his work, this exploration of his life, art and legacy spans his first works painted for a non-Aboriginal audience
up to the last bodies of work he created before his death, some of which have never been exhibited before.

The exhibition was curated by Keith Munro, who worked closely with Nadjamerrek’s family, and the sweeping ochre and red wall painting commissioned by the MCA was painted by his nephew Allan Nadjamerrek, his grandsons Gavin Namarnyilk, Ray Nadjamerrek and Maath Maralngurra and granddaughter Laorraine White. The MCA has also created an
excellent microsite to compliment the exhibition so we can access and engage with Nadjamerrek’s language, stories, and land. It is this poignant tradition of art and storytelling that brings this exhibition to life, gives it a pulse. From Nadjamerrek’s art we can understand where he came from, what he cared about and respected, and the important stories that he documented and wanted to share. They are stories of the land, of shimmering barramundi and moving crocodiles, made out of the land, from rock to ochre on paper to earth pigments on bark; a testament to his longing for his country.

Until Mar 20, Museum of Contemporary Art, 140 George St, The Rocks, mca.com.au

NEW ACQUISITIONS

Celebrating five years of the MCA’s successful New Acquisitions series of exhibitions, New Acquisitions in Context 2010 covers neon art and Super 8 films to blue biro drawings to sculpture to newspapers reproduced by hand. Thoughtfully curated by Anna Davis, the exhibition showcases the MCA’s most recent acquisitions alongside selected works from the existing MCA collections.

Although the exhibition has no set theme, several preoccupations seem to pop up in the various artworks, such as nature in James Angus’ white monocoque Mountains, Valleys, Caves and Hany Armanious’ playful sculpture, time and deterioration in Tim Silver’s Untitled (What if I Drive?), blue crayola crayons in the shape of toy cars, or the obsessive quality of art practice in Mathew Jones’ The New York Daily News on the day that became the Stonewall riot. The sequence in which the artworks have been organised and displayed takes us on an absorbing journey through these themes, touching on politics and conservation too. Lo fi kinetic works by Günter Weseler and Matthew Griffin, Sangeeta Sandrasegar’s shimmering fabric love poem to Australia, Arlo Mountford’s and Hayden Fowler’s video installations as well as Patrick Kennedy’s neon works proclaim the diversity and strength of modern art and the exciting acquisitions being made by the MCA.

Until Jun 19, Museum of Contemporary Art, 140 George St, The Rocks, mca.com.au