At the Art Gallery of South Australia, Vincent Namatjira is preparing for the opening of his first major survey exhibition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"I feel proud and happy, and it's just remarkable to be here," the artist told AAP.
The show opens Friday and caps off a busy time for the painter, with an exhibition of 13 new paintings at Yavuz Gallery in Sydney earlier in October, and the publication of a Thames & Hudson monograph.
The AGSA survey is titled Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour and is a feature of South Australia's Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.
After showing in Adelaide, the exhibition will travel to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
It's unusual for a 40-year-old to score an institutional survey show, but Namatjira, who in 2020 became the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald Prize with his portrait of former AFL player Adam Goodes, feels painting is something he's been doing a long time.
"To me, it's a sense of just being an artist pretty much all my life, really, with the paint running through my blood," he said.
Still, the milestone has come at a strange time for the Western Aranda artist, who was doing the 12-hour road trip from Indulkana on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands to Adelaide to prepare for the show when the results of the voice referendum came through.
With his hopes and expectations pinned on a 'yes' vote, the result was a disappointment, and he has a sense of futility about what might come next.
"It's like a sense of 'why bother' at the moment," he explains.
But Namatjira's paintings are all about changing people's perspectives, using his satirical humour as a commentary on power.
In one of his latest works, for example, King Charles III stands in his regalia in the central desert, looking decidedly uncomfortable and out of place, as a way of depriving the royal family of their power and entitlement.
"They are placed on desert country and at the same level as the rest of the world, and especially the Aboriginal people of this country," the artist said.
Namatjira also paints himself and his heroes: the likes of Cathy Freeman, Nicky Winmar, and Archie Roach.
These are images that show the rest of the world what Aboriginal people can do, he said, and visitors to his AGSA show should take away a sense of power, strength and resilience.
"I stand strong for the Aboriginal people in Australia and I also recognise my children back at home, and also my family and countrymen," he said.
Born in Alice Springs, Namatjira was raised in foster care in Perth from the age of six, which meant losing his connection to family, country and culture.
He grew up not knowing of his link to famed watercolourist Albert Namatjira - Vincent is his great-grandson - until he was an adult, and was astonished to discover his artistic legacy and the significance of his family name.
These days, he is based in the South Australian community of Indulkana and often paints on country, or at the community's Iwantja Arts collective.
The AGSA exhibition is based on the last 10 years of his career, and in future Namatjira says he hopes to show more of his paintings overseas, with his vein of wry political painting just getting bigger and better.
"There's no limit to what I'm doing," he said.
The Tarnanthi Festival features more than 1500 artists in exhibitions and events at AGSA and venues across South Australia, with Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour opening Friday.
Australian Associated Press
