Dennis Nona Prints

About Dennis Nona

Date of Birth

1973

Place of Birth

Badu Island in Torres Strait

Career

Dennis Nona was taught the traditional craft of woodcarving when he was still a young by. This skill has been developed and translated into the incredibly intricate and beautiful linocuts, etchings and sculptures created by the artist since the commencement of his art practice in 1989. Dennis Nona’s work is inspired by coastal life, family, traditional medicines and the myths and legends of the Torres Strait.

Dennis Nona pioneered the development of the highly intricate linocut prints that are special to the Torres Strait Islands. He has vividly documented the ancient myths and legends of his island and the wider Torres Strait that had previously been transmitted by oral story-telling and dance. Dennis Nona uses a highly graphic way of storytelling, and links the works with a matrix of delicately lined clan patterning, that binds the entire story to its place of origin.

Dennis Nona is represented in the Aboriginal art collections of most major Australian art institutions and in several important overseas collections. These include the National Gallery of Australia; Queensland Art Gallery; National Gallery of Victoria; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Cambridge University Museum UK and the Museum of American Indian Arts, USA.

Aboriginal Art Status

Collectable artist

Collections

Artbank, Sydney, Australia
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
Australian National University Printmaking Collection, Canberra, Australia
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Australia
Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia
Brighton University, Brighton, UK
British Museum, London, UK
Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, Australia
Cambridge University Museum, UK
Charles Darwin University Art Collection, Darwin, Australia
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, Australia
Foundation Burkhardt-Felder Art & Culture, Motiers, Switzerland.
Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Thursday Island, Australia
Gateway Horn Island Museum, Horn Island, Australia
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Australia
Glass House Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie, Australia
Griffith University Art Collection, Brisbane, Australia
Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, USA
Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie, Australia
Machida Graphic Arts Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia
Museum of American Indian Arts, New Mexico, USA
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Australia
Musee d’Art et d’Histoire, Rochefort, France
Musee des Confluences, Lyon, France
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
Noosa Regional Gallery, Noosa Heads, Australia
OTC Collection, Sydney, Australia
Parliament House, Canberra, Australia
Perc Tucker Gallery, Townsville, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia
Queensland University of Technology Art Collection, Brisbane, Australia
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, Australia
The Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga, Australia
Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, Australia
University of Wollongong Art Collection, Wollongong, Australia
University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions

1991 The 8th National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1991 Group Show, Hogarth Galleries,Sydney.
1991 Cairns Art Society Exhibition, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Cairns, QLD.
1992 One People One Soul, Palm Court Gallery, Cairns, QLD.
1992 Colours of Black, Queensland Aboriginal Creations, Brisbane.
1992 Group Exhibition, Gallery of Australian Landscape, Brisbane.
1992 Cross Currents, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Sydney.
1992 The Ninth Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
1992/1993 New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring USA and Australia.
1993 Aboriginal Printmakers, Northern Territory University Art Gallery, Darwin.
1993 Mixed Exhibition, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Sydney.
1993 Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA.
1993 Cairns TAFE Students, Studio One, Canberra.
1993 Australian Aboriginal Printmakers, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington, USA.
1994 Gold Coast Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, QLD.
1994 International Print Exhibition, Machida, Tokyo, Japan.
1994 Aboriginal Exhibition, South Australian Art Gallery, Adelaide.
1994 Malu Ural, National Maritime Museum, Sydney.
1994 Aboriginal Art Award, Heritage Commission, Canberra.
1995 Same but Different, Aboriginal and Islander Students at the Australian National University, School of Arts Gallery, Canberra.
1995 Mixed Exhibition, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane.
2001 Islands in the Sun, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2001 18th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2001 Trakin Kultja, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
2001 Thaigy Minaral – Beautiful Patterns, Port Kennedy Hall, Thursday Island
2001 – 2004 Gelam Nguzu Kazi – Gelam My Son, Travelling Exhibition. Australian Museum, Sydney; Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria B.C. Canada; Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK; Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane, Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle; Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra; Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne; New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale; Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree; Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Stanthorpe; Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide; Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo ; Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura; Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga; Manly Art Gallery, Manly; Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Toowoomba; Noosa Regional Art Gallery, Tewantin; Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Cairns; Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Thursday Island.
2002 Paipa – ‘Windward’, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
2003 Beneath the Monsoon – Visions North of Capricorn, Artspace Mackay, Mackay; Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns; Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
2003 Dream Traces, Brighton University, Brighton, UK
2003 Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia
2003 Bovicai Collaborative Exhibition, Qld.
2003 Coochimadlo Island Market Exhibition, Qld
2003 Indigenous Outback Exhibition, NAIDOC Day, Brisbane
2003 Michael Fox Gallery, Brisbane
2003 Pandanus Art Collabrative Exhibition, Currumbin Beach,
2003 19th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin
2003 Shell Fremantle Art Award, Fremantle
2003 Christchurch Art Gallery/Te Puna, Waiwhetu, Christchurch/Aotearoa, NZ
2004 Christchurch Art Gallery/Te Puna, Waiwhetu, Christchurch/Aotearoa, NZ
2004 Fragments, Little Stanley Street Gallery, Brisbane
2004 21st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2004 Angel Orensanz International Art Award, New York, USA (Winner)
2004 Robin O’Chin Memorial Art Award, Brisbane
2004 Shell Fremantle Art Award, Fremantle
2004 Artscape Group Exhibition, Brisbane
2005 22nd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2005 Shell Fremantle Print Award 1975-2005
2005 Busan International Print Art Festival, Busan, Korea
2005 ARC Art, Design & Craft Biennial, Brisbane
2006 bangu yibara: works from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2007 Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA
2007 24th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2013 Zendah Kes – Art of the Torres Strait, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA

Links

British Museum
National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Australia