Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation, Tennant & District Times
The Tennant Creek Brio artists have recently returned from a successful exhibition in Byron Bay in New South Wales. Simon Wilson, Joseph Williams and Rupert Betheras showed off their cutting-edge artistic talents to the eastern states which was received with much applaud at Byron Bay’s Thom Gallery.
Showcasing a blend of mediums including paintings, performance, found objects, and sculpture, the show also included works by other Brio members Fabian Brown, Clifford Thompson, Marcus Camphoo, and Lindsay Nelson.
Photos: Kate Holmes
Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre Manger Levi McLean said that the foundational theme of this year’s Art Byron exhibition was about healing and community building.
The Brio has its roots at Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation, where in 2016 local men gathered to create art as a form of healing and therapy.
Today, they work with Nyinkka Nyunyu Art & Culture Centre with the ongoing support of Julalikari.
On 30 September, these Barkly artists joined international, and local artists in showcasing their works across three venues.
This year, the art festival was given the theme ‘Love or Fear’ by renowned First Nation woman artist and curator, Karla Dickens, who lived through the devastating March flood events that swept across Bundjalung country around Lismore.
Photos: Kate Holmes
In fact, Karla Dickens, the subject of this year’s Archibald Prize-winning paintings by Blak Douglas, visited Tennant Creek in April to workshop ideas for Art Byron with the Tennant Creek Brio.
Since the Brio’s creation, the men have bloomed and become successful artists with works featured in major institutions across the nation. This is the Tennant Creek Brio’s sixth exhibition this year.
This article appeared in Tennant & District Times, 21 October 2022.
