In this Q&A with John Kean, author of Dot Circle and Frame: The Making of Papunya Tula Art, he discusses the inspiration behind his research and writing. The book delves into the influences on the artists, such as their lived experiences as stockmen and exposure to transcultural imagery. Divided into two parts, exploring the history before Papunya and the process of making Papunya Tula art.
Dot Circle and Frame: The Making of Papunya Tula art will appeal to lovers of art, those interested in Indigenous culture, and history buffs. It is a valuable gift for friends who seek a deeper understanding of cultural history and the origins of celebrated Australian visual art.
What inspired you to research and write Dot Circle and Frame: The making of Papunya Tula art?
Dot, Circle and Frame came out of my association with Papunya Tula Artists, that stretches back to 1977 when I was employed as an untried art advisor. I was fresh out of art school, a twenty-two-year-old, and completely unprepared for the challenge of running a small art company. It was a formative experience to say the least!
I have maintained a close connection with the artists and Papunya and Kintore, and more recently to descendants of the original artists. Fortunately, I been involved with many projects involving these amazing artists over the years, and have gradually deepened my understanding of the particular forces that make Papunya Tula phenomenon so special.
Years ago, I had an idea for an exhibition that examined the affinities between a particular group of paintings by Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Tim Leura, Clifford Possum and Johnny Warangula. The exhibition never happened but the idea grew into a PhD thesis, and later a more discursive narrative that became, ‘Dot, Circle and Frame’.
What can the reader expect?
The more I thought about the artists and their paintings, the more I realised how they were influenced by their lived experience and the precedents encountered as stockmen and out in the bush, over the visible horizon as it were. Influences included Christian iconography, the work of Albert Namatjira (who each of the artists knew) and the great flow of transcultural imagery that markedly defined the twentieth century. Kaapa, Leura, Possum and Warangula were modern men who purposely created art for their time. Rather than being isolated on their remote government run settlement, they were affected by the zeitgeist as surely as were the residents of the cities on Australia’s eastern sea board – my book accommodates and celebrates their modernity – it will challenge prevailing perceptions about the emergence of desert art and radically expand the list of its probable sources.
I present some challenging ideas, that are supported, as they must be with copious images: photographs, diagrams, maps and wonderful reproductions of artworks, many of which have not been previously published.
The book is in two discreet parts, ‘Before Papunya’ and ‘Making Papunya Tula Art’, and these parts are divided by a chronological run of images - some of the most spectacular paintings to have been produced in Central Australia, 1913 -1983.
Can you tell us a little about the writing/research process?
The book involved extended research and consultation with the descendants of the artists at Alice Springs, Papunya and a constellation of closely related communities ‘out west’. I also visited numerous institutional collections, fortunately the works of each of these artists are well represented in state and national collections. Mostly the book came into being via looking at the artworks over the years, as well as considering the artists intentions, based on my experience of working with them so many decades ago. My understanding of the works, and the artists’ lives, was of course tempered by the facts from the archive, including the photographic images and rare audio-visual recordings. I must thank my many readers and subsequent editors who have brought rigour and readability to numerous drafts.
Who will enjoy this book?
The book is intended as a contribution to the growing literature on Central Australian art. I hope that it will be distinguished by my multidisciplinary approach, for I assume that the art emerges from the contested historic context in which it was conceived, the frontier and a succession of policies that washed through the region since the cataclysmic massacres of the early twentieth century. The book can be enjoyed by lovers of art, those interested in Indigenous culture and history buffs with an interest in the intercultural history of arid Australia. I hope that it will be of enduring value to the families of the artists.
As a gift, who should I buy this book for?
I would be buying a book for friends who want to look deeply into our cultural history, and those who may be fascinated to find out how the Australia’s most celebrated visual art came into being.
Dr John Kean has published extensively on Indigenous art and the representation of nature in Australian museums. John was Art Advisor at Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, (1977-79), inaugural Exhibition Coordinator at Tandanya: the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute (1989-92), Exhibition Coordinator at Fremantle Arts Centre (1993-96) and Producer with Museums Victoria (1996-2010). In 2004, John was the Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Fellow, Museums Victoria. John was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Art History) at University of Melbourne in 2020 . His PHD was titled Dot, Circle and Frame: how Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Tim Leura, Clifford Possum and Johnny Warangula created Papunya Tula art.
Dot Circle and Frame: The Making of Papunya Tula Art John Kean
The course of Australian art changed in 1971. Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Johnny Warangula Tjupurrula were central to the formulation of a radical new form of desert art.
