Tuscaloosa – Contemporary Australian Aboriginal art is one of the most significant art movements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, according to Anne Keener, curator of the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art’s upcoming exhibition, Pattern Thinking: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Tom and Cynthia Schneider, which runs October 11 – November 16, 2018.
NEW TIME: Curator Anne Keener will give a lecture about the exhibition Thursday, October 11, at 3:30 p.m., Lloyd Hall 226. Join us after the talk for a reception in the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, 103 Garland Hall at 5-7 p.m.
The exhibition features work by Australian Aboriginal artists such as Elizabeth Kngwarreye, Johnny Possum Tjapaltjarri and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, one of the founders of the Western Desert Art Movement. The exhibition’s title comes from a concept named by modern Aboriginal elders. “Pattern thinking,” in the Australian Aboriginal world, embodies the idea of the interrelationship of nature and culture and the sacredness of both. As the influential Aboriginal elder David Mowaljarlai stated it, “Pattern thinking is Aboriginal thinking…Patterns are about belonging. Nothing is separate from anything else. The land is not separate from nature, people, the heavens, ancient stories. Everything belongs in a pattern.” Pattern thinking – and the sense of belonging – is integral to indigenous Australian culture, according to Mowaljarlai and other Aboriginal leaders, and contributes to a balanced life and good mental health, and creates and encourages cross cultural dialogue. Indigenous Australian artists communicate the concept of pattern thinking in their work. Curator Keener explains: “The indigenous Australian paintings express stories of patterns of interrelation of the forces of all of life, laid down by creator beings.”
Change of Schedule: Anne Keener will speak about the exhibition and the art on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at 3:30 p.m., Lloyd Hall 226. Join us for the reception, following the lecture, 5-7 p.m., in Garland Hall 103. The exhibition runs October 11 – November 16.
The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art is supported by The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Art and Art History. For further information, contact the gallery at 348-1891 or go to our website: https://art.ua.edu/gallery/smga/.
Garland Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Gold 1, Crimson, Blue and Bronze CrimsonRide buses stop between Garland Hall and Gorgas Library. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/.
For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/degree-programs/.