- 58
PADDY BEDFORD
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 AUD
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Description
- Paddy Bedford
- BIRIYALJI - FISH HOLE
- Bears artist's name, inscription (PB), year, Jirrawun Aboriginal Art Corporation details and catalogue number PB2000.86 on the reverse
- Natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on linen
- 122 by 135 cm
Provenance
Painted in 2000 for Jirrawun Aboriginal Art Corporation, Kununurra
Private collection
Exhibited
Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 6 December 2006 - 15 April 2007; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 12 May - 22 July 2007
Literature
Michael, L (ed.), Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006, p.38 and p.112 illus.
Condition
The painting is in excellent condition with no visible loss to the painted surface, cracking or scuffing. The painting is housed in a black timber box frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Cf. For paintings of the same subject see Fish Hole, 1998, in Michael 2006, p.66, and two orks form 2004 entitled Biriyalji – Fish Hole, (ibid.), pp.154-5, illus. For similar compositions see Police Hole, 1998, (ibid.), p.38, and Thoowoonggoonarrin, 2004, the latter in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, in Ryan, J. et al, Land Marks, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2006, p.121, illus.
Bedford's corpus of paintings is punctuated by works where the artist creates a tension between the graphic elements within the picture and the edges of the rectangular canvas. In these works, the artist acknowledges the limitations of the rectangle or square, as in this case, by placing the main motifs up against the edges or corners of the frame. The compositions embody a sense of presence and absence, of space and emptiness, colour with lack of colour. As Michiel Dolk writes: "this acceptance of absence, of emptiness as a positive term, is also an assertion of the material presence of painting as a surface and object." (Michael 2006, p.39). Biriyalji – Fish Hole, 2000, accentuates the positive/negative, foreground/background dichotomy by the vertical division of the composition.
Biriyalji is a Gija word for conkerberry, a plant used for medicinal purposes with black fruit that ripens in the monsoon season, and it is also the name of one of two waterholes abounding with fish that Bedford has painted.
Bedford's corpus of paintings is punctuated by works where the artist creates a tension between the graphic elements within the picture and the edges of the rectangular canvas. In these works, the artist acknowledges the limitations of the rectangle or square, as in this case, by placing the main motifs up against the edges or corners of the frame. The compositions embody a sense of presence and absence, of space and emptiness, colour with lack of colour. As Michiel Dolk writes: "this acceptance of absence, of emptiness as a positive term, is also an assertion of the material presence of painting as a surface and object." (Michael 2006, p.39). Biriyalji – Fish Hole, 2000, accentuates the positive/negative, foreground/background dichotomy by the vertical division of the composition.
Biriyalji is a Gija word for conkerberry, a plant used for medicinal purposes with black fruit that ripens in the monsoon season, and it is also the name of one of two waterholes abounding with fish that Bedford has painted.