Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford was born at Bedford Downs Station, a large cattle property in the remote East Kimberley of Western Australia. He belonged to the Gija people. His family history was marked by several brutal events resulting from clashes between white colonists and his indigenous ancestors.
He worked as a stockman around Warnum in the East Kimberley until precluded by injury. As a senior law man of his tribe, who determined proper customs and traditions, Paddy had engaged in traditional painting for ceremonial purposes, especially body-painting, from early manhood.
It was only much later in life, in 1998, that he was encouraged to paint on canvas and later in gouache on paper. He soon joined the newly formed Jirrawun Arts group and became part of the East Kimberley/Turkey Creek movement led by Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie. Solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Darwin soon drew the praise of art critics and his work was recognized as groundbreaking.
In a short period of eight years Bedford built up a rich oeuvre and was to be regarded as one of the most important indigenous artists of Australia. His work has a unique distinctive style: very graphical, use of striking colors, and sparse but precisely placed lines, often delineated by white dots. His works depict the East Kimberley landscape where he lived and worked his whole life, in combination with the Dreamtime stories of the emu, turkey and black cockatoo associated with his family.
The subject matter of Bedford’s paintings is drawn from two very different sources, the dramatic East Kimberley landscape and the historical events that occurred there. Central to both is the ever present Ngarranggarni or Aboriginal Dreaming, the parallel time dimension where the landscape, animals and plants were created and in which the laws determining behavior and tradition were established. His paintings also present a dichotomy of imagery. Powerful bold forms reminiscent of physical features of East Kimberley are surrounded by expansive delicate washes of muted color. A contrast is created between powerful physicality and great sensitivity. Behind their simple composition lie complex underlying stories, such as the Emu, Bush Turkey and Cockatoo Dreamings of his family. His works evoke profound traditional authority. One of Australia’s leading art critics, John McDonald, is often quoted at the time of Bedford’s 2007 retrospective in Sydney’s MCA as saying: “If one had to choose a single indigenous artist to represent the state of First Nations Art, it would be hard to go past Paddy Bedford.”
Also featured in his work are historical events, such as the Bedford Downs Massacre - the brutal murder of a group of family members in the early 20th century in retaliation for killing a bullock. Yet, central to his work is reconciliation, referred to as “two-way”.
Paddy enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with materials beyond the palette of his traditional ochres. It became evident for him that there were no self imposed rules, more often imposed by art advisors and ‘aboriginal’ art galleries, as a result Bedford’s perfectly balanced paintings are rich with multifaceted and intricate layers that also transcend the brutalities of colonial history.
His paintings do not fit into ethnological categories nor can they be claimed and absorbed by Western art history. Paddy Bedford not only took himself out of poverty with his painting, but also liberated himself from the Aboriginal art ghetto and all of its unconscious racist stereotypes.
Paddy Bedford was one of eight Australian indigenous artists commissioned to deliver a permanent work for the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, for its opening in 2006.
His work was honored later that year with a major retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney that went on a national tour. An extraordinary achievement for an octogenarian, who only began his career as an artist less than a decade earlier.
He arrived at the museum in a red Cadillac and silver horse head walking stick, elegantly dressed in full splendor.
Since his death in 2007, his reputation has increased. In 2013 the Australian Airline, Qantas, commissioned the external livery of a new Boeing 737-800 to reflect his work Medicine Pocket (2005). Moreover, his works are exhibited in Australia’s major public galleries, as well as in private collections worldwide. Following the artist’s death the artist had already arranged a carefully planned selling of his best works from his estate, proceeds benefitted both his next of kin as well as his own trust, the Paddy Bedford Education Trust, making certain the profits would benefit his community.
Both works offered by SmithDavidson Gallery were part of this benefit auction, as well as having been included in the artist’s retrospective at Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht (AAMU), The Netherlands.