::fibreculture:: Winner blasts art whitewash

[geert lovink]

Winner blasts art whitewash
By ALICE BURTON
16aug03

Aboriginal art has been turned into a "whitefella commodity", painter
Richard Bell said last night.

"There is no such thing as an Aboriginal art industry," he said. "It's
controlled by white people ... the dealers, the buyers, the gallery owners.

"It's all white and is presented from their perspective -- and then they
have the cheek to attach the spirituality of the Aboriginal people to it."

Bell, 49, last night won the 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Art Award.

The Brisbane-based artist collected $40,000 in prizemoney.

His winning work, Bell's Theorem, is a striking painting with the words
"Aboriginal art is a white thing" written across the canvas.

The award was announced at a ceremony attended by more than 500 people on
the lawns of Darwin's NT Museum and Art Gallery.

Bell's response to winning the award was disbelief.

"I thought they were having me on. I nearly didn't send the piece because I
thought they'd pick an abstract work from the desert or something
traditional," he said.

Awards were also given in four other categories.

The $4000 general painting award went to Regina Wilson of Peppimenarti for
Syaw-Fish Net, the $4000 bark painting award went to Galuma Maymuru of
Arnhem Land for Guwak, the $4000 works on paper went to Alick Tipoti's
linocut Head and Spirit and the $4000 Wandjuk Marika memorial
three-dimensional award winner was Lorna Jin-Gubarrangunyia's Conical
Fishtrap.

The 115 entries selected in the Telstra Art Award will be on display at the
museum until December 7.

http://www.ntnews.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,6968346
%255E13569,00.html