Thinking Beyond Abstraction

Felicity Fenner’s Thinking Beyond Abstraction takes into account the undeniable influence Aboriginal art has had on Australian artists, and explores the position of Aboriginal art within the context of the modern gallery. Fenner notes that that while non-Indigenous artists’ works are unequivocally enhanced by their exposure to Aboriginal art, Indigenous artists face the complex issues of ‘authenticity,’ with Aboriginal art works painted on non-traditional medium such as a canvas having been excluded from museums until the controversial 1981 Perpecta exhibition. Fenner also considers that the desire to own Aboriginal art is linked with ‘unresolved issues around reconciliation,’ as well as the desire for ownership and authority.  However, it is this issue of ‘authenticity,’ that I find most significant and challenging. There seems to be an underlying conflict as to what is ‘authentic’ – being produced in the traditional way of expressing and passing on traditional stories in an effort to maintain traditions that are ’otherwise threatened by assimilation,’ and what is commercialized, or ‘bad’ Indigenous art...     

                                        .....A whole new complicated can of worms, if you ask me.