Untitled, 2001

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

61 x 91.5 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Neil McLeod Fine Arts, Dandenong, Vic Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Exhibited: "That's True that's Creation", Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Redfern, NSW, August 2022
Artwork story: 'Bedford was born circa 1922 on Bedford Downs Station in the East Kimberley. A few years beforehand, Paddy Quilty, the owner of the station (and the man who gave Paddy Bedford his 'Christian' name), was responsible for the murder by strychnine poisoning of a group of Gija men who had killed a milking cow. This massacre has weighed heavily on Bedford throughout his life. He and fellow Jirrawun founder, Timmy Timms (now deceased), were able to recall a corroboree (or joonba) which told the story of the killings. The corroboree, which had never before been seen by a white audience, became the basis of a performance piece, Fire fire burning bright, presented by the Neminuwarlin Performance Group from the East Kimberley at the Perth and Melbourne festivals in 2002. (J. Eccles, Jirrawun: a unique model, in Art & Australia, vol. 44, I, Spring 2006)

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c. 1922 – 2007

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

61 x 91.5 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Neil McLeod Fine Arts, Dandenong, Vic Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Exhibited: "That's True that's Creation", Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Redfern, NSW, August 2022
Artwork story: 'Bedford was born circa 1922 on Bedford Downs Station in the East Kimberley. A few years beforehand, Paddy Quilty, the owner of the station (and the man who gave Paddy Bedford his 'Christian' name), was responsible for the murder by strychnine poisoning of a group of Gija men who had killed a milking cow. This massacre has weighed heavily on Bedford throughout his life. He and fellow Jirrawun founder, Timmy Timms (now deceased), were able to recall a corroboree (or joonba) which told the story of the killings. The corroboree, which had never before been seen by a white audience, became the basis of a performance piece, Fire fire burning bright, presented by the Neminuwarlin Performance Group from the East Kimberley at the Perth and Melbourne festivals in 2002. (J. Eccles, Jirrawun: a unique model, in Art & Australia, vol. 44, I, Spring 2006)