![Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford, Janterrji - Dolly Hole, 2004](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/lesliesmith/images/view/7c6bf788d548ce2b5abae9cad15fbb50j/smithdavidsongallery-paddy-nyunkuny-bedford-janterrji-dolly-hole-2004.jpg)
Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford Indigenous Australian (Gija), 1922-2007
31.5 x 39.4 inch
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity
According to anthropologist Dr Frances Kofod: ’Janterrji is a place where the artist's family have a small outstation. It is near a water-hole known by Europeans as Dolly Hole. It is an important place where dreamtime women conducted their special ceremonies.'
The subject matter of Bedford’s paintings is drawn from the artist’s two main and very different sources of knowledge and experience. The dramatic Kimberley landscape around Bedford Downs and the historical events that took place there and intersect with the ever present Ngarranggarni or 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 viewing, powerful and bold forms, reminiscent of physical features of the Kimberley, are surrounded by expansive delicate washes of muted color, presenting a contrast between powerful physicality and great sensitivity. Simple in their composition as they are complex in the underlying stories they tell, such as the Emu, Bush Turkey and Cockatoo Dreamings of his family.
Please note that all Aboriginal Art is created from a so called ‘Birds Eye’ view. This means that the paintings can be hung either horizontally as well as vertically.
Provenance
Painted for Jirrawun Aboriginal Arts Corporation, Kununurra, Australia
The Estate of Paddy Bedford;
Bonhams, Sydney, 21 Nov 2011, lot 18;
Private collection, Melbourne;
Private collection, The Netherlands
Exhibitions
Signs and Traces. Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Zamek
Culture Centre, Poznan, Poland, 2015
Paddy Bedford: Crossing Frontiers, Aboriginal Art Museum
Utrecht (AAMU), Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2009-2010
Literature
Storer, R., Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006, p. 161 (illus.)
Michael, L. (ed.), Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006, p. 161 (illus.)
Petitjean, G., et al., Paddy Bedford: Crossing Frontiers, Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art (AAMU), Utrecht, The Netherlands, and Snoeck Editions, Heule, Belgium, 2009, p. 88 (illus.)