15 December 2012 to 3 February 2013
Jimmy Pike (1940–2002) is considered as one of Australia’s great indigenous artists and one of Australia’s greatest textile designers. His traditional land is the Walmajarri Great Sandy Desert in the Kimberley, Western Australia.
Produced at the height of the Indigenous cultural renaissance, Jimmy Pike’s designs are vivid, dynamic and groundbreaking in their use of non-traditional colours. Due to his collaboration with the company Desert Designs, his designs exploded onto the international stage via high-fashion garments, textiles and furnishings and represent one of the most successful forays into the intersecting territories of indigenous art, craft and commercial design to date. The exhibition features a selection of Pike’s original prints, textiles and garments produced from his fabric designs. The exhibition is curated by artisan, in partnership with Desert Designs and toured by Museum and Gallery Services Queensland with the assistance of Visions Australia.
Image: Jimmy Pike Kurriny Piyirnkujarra 1991. Screenprint. Courtesy artisan.