The Cairns Regional Art Gallery recently staged a dazzling , virtual three in one exhibition of diverse works inspired by Papua New Guinea and dramatic episodes in New Zealand , which included the extraordinary last cannibal feast in the style of Christ's Last Supper, Maori War re-enactments and extensive tattoos .
Along with small works done by Archibald Prize winner William Dobell arising out of two trips he made to PNG in 1949 and l950, were large ,vibrant paintings by James Morrison in Re-Imagining Papua New Guinea and stunning , unusual works by Greg Semu of New Zealand , "12" , which included dramatic lighting , audio, elaborate costuming and settings for a Battle of the Noble Savage series , some of which were courtesy of the Musee du quai Branly, Paris .
The Dobell component was accompanied by a documentary film about the time he , authors Colin Simpson and Frank Clune and his wife, Thelma , and Australian philanthropist Sir Edmond Hallstrom went to PNG on a charter flight to see the experimental sheep station Hallstrom had set up in the Highlands .
(A patron of the Taronga Zoo Park in Sydney , Hallstrom it was who flew to Darwin and rescued Jimmy the Chimp , said to have been Tarzan's own swinging buddy , a cigarette smoking passenger on the yacht Sea Fox , skippered by American film star and magician John Calvert, which got into difficulties in Territory waters...See biography of Northern Territory News crusading editor Jim Bowditch in this blog. )
Dobell, who in January 1949 had been declared winner of the Archibald Prize for the second time for his portrait of artist Margaret Olley , made many drawings on that occasion , most of which were destroyed because he felt they were like tourist sketches. However, he went back again to PNG next year and as a result poured out many works inspired by that visit until l954, when he stopped doing so because of criticism about his miniaturist style.
The film showed Dobell mixing with tribesmen , Mrs Clune's umbrella getting close attention by awed women , large leaves used as shelter from rain .
Footage included a visitors book with 1949 entries from Frank and Thelma Clune and "Bill" Dobell , the latter's address " King's X", Sydney , which appears to contain a drawing by him referring to climbing up Tusman (?) Hill on their hands-or was it hands and knees?
Frank Clune, whose books and radio talks promoted Australia within and without , gives his address as Healey's Lookout, Praise the Lord , while his wife , an artist and sculptor , gives Vaucluse, Sydney , as her residence .The Clunes ran two art galleries in Sydney , one with a son , and were close friends and supporters of Dobell . Other artists they knew were Sir Russell Drysdale, John Passmore, John Olsen; Robert Hughes (Lucy Turnbull's uncle ) , who went on to become art critic for Time magazine and a renowned documentary maker , was another in their group .
Frank Clune sold at least 500,000 books , promoted Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira and his travels included passing through and observing Darwin in the early WW11 period .
Frank Clune sold at least 500,000 books , promoted Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira and his travels included passing through and observing Darwin in the early WW11 period .
A most powerful image in Semu's section was the Auto Portrait with 12 Disciples , entitled The Last Cannibal Supper, cause tomorrow we become Christians . A New Zealander , he lives in Sydney and recently returned from a residency at the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien studio in Berlin . He makes use of photography and film to produce images shaped by historical facts and moments in time , using dramatic lighting and elaborate costumes , settings in his New Zealand and Polynesian tableaux .
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Front of Cairns Art Gallery .
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