Young Guns

In the twelve years since I have been art co-ordinator I have enjoyed the mentorship of Yolngu elders like Gawirrin Gumana, Djambawa Marawili and others who are not with us anymore such as Dula, Djutjadjutja, Gambali, Bakulangay and others. Perhaps most importantly Andrew Blake taught me how to put art first, second and third when running the Centre. Gallerists like Beverly Knight, Dallas Gold and William Nuttall all helped to knock the rough edges off. But the most intense and lengthy dialogues about Yirrkala art that I have had have been with Bill Gregory.

It was in the course of one of these that we coined the shorthand ?Young Guns? to talk about a show of new and emerging artists we planned for 2006. After using that term for so long when we finally got around to giving it a ?proper name? we couldnt find one that described it better.

When Bill uses it he thinks of cowboys when I use it I think of shearers. When I translate it to the artists themselves I use the term ?Murrnginy!? which is the word for a shovel nosed spear with a steel blade. It also means Eastern Arnhemlander. But I use it in its idiomatic sense as an exclamation akin to ?Deadly!?.

Just as with ?gun? in English the weapon acts as a synonym for excellence. The spear blade does the same job in Yolngu Matha.

The five artists exbibited have a lot in common. They are all young men who live in homelands remote from Yirrkala. They all appear to have been recognised as worthy of advancement within the secret ceremonial authority structure of Yolngu law. They have also been contributing artwork to the public forum of the art centre for at least a couple of years.

But most importantly they are ?guns?.

The two or three generations of artists before them since Western exposure have all contributed to the dynamic of subtle shift and change in visual representation of the unchanging Law but these young men inherit all of that to start with. They are literally ?standing on the shoulders of giants? but they are not standing still. They are doing more than copying their elders. They have the spirit of confidence and creativity to stretch the Law to speak with new voices.

I am often asked who are the up and coming young artists and I usually demur with responses along the lines of ?who knows? or ?only time will tell?. I cannot say who will go on to acheive the recognition of a Djambawa or Gawirrin in the future. Hopefully people viewing this show will see what I see. These artists all have that elusive combination of desire,application and talent that makes them contenders for that destiny.

- by Will Stubbs

EXHIBITIONS

Young Guns
Group show of emerging artists from Yirrkala


Exhibition features:

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Please note, works in previous exhibitions may no longer be available, please visit our stockroom for available works