CDU Art Gallery Curator Kellie Joswig with Paul Johnstone and Matt Ward from Salon Indigenous Arts Projects contemplating Indigenous artist Robert Wuldi’s response to being told by the art world to produce something more “traditional”
Now in its fourth year at Charles Darwin University (CDU) Art Gallery, the companion exhibition to the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) will open to the public from tomorrow.
The “Salon des Refusés” exhibition kicks off the Darwin Festival and features art worksthat were entered but not selected for NATSIAA.
Salon des Refusés originally began as an exhibition in Paris in 1863, showing works that had been rejected by the official Paris Salon.
CDU Art Gallery acting curator Kellie Joswig said the concept allowed artists to be part of an exciting exhibition, even if they were not chosen for the awards.
“It also gives audiences the opportunity to see incredible Indigenous art that otherwise would not be displayed,” Ms Joswig said.
“This year the Salon des Refusés is a carefully curated exhibition featuring 53 works that show the amazing diversity and quality of Aboriginal art being created in Australia today, including wonderful canvas paintings by award-winning artists such as Carbiene McDonald Tjangala, who recently won the Hadley’s Art Prize – Australia’s richest prize for landscape art.
“Other works include colourful and quirky soft sculptures, painted hollow logs, and a statement piece crafted from 2km of fencing wire that is sure to make an impression on visitors.”
Ms Joswig said the exhibition presenters were known to be unconventional in their selection and approach, which has made the Salon des Refusés a hotly anticipated and popular event of the Darwin Festival.
The exhibition is hosted by the CDU Art Gallery and presented by SALON Art Projects.
Salon des Refusés will be open from 8 August until 28 September at the CDU Art Gallery, colonnade level of Building Orange 12, University Drive South, Casuarina campus.
Opening times: Wednesday to Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10am – 2pm.
