Paddy Bedford

Paddy Bedford was a remarkable Gija artist of the East Kimberley who began painting in his mid 70s and over the last nine years of his life produced a range of ochre paintings and stories that summarised the qualities of his life and his region.

Paddy Bedford continued in the tradition of Rover Thomas and Paddy Jaminji in painting representations of Country that used pared down designs and blocks of earth colours to create maps of Country and accounts of Dreaming mythology and historical events that occurred there.

Bedford innovated with colour and form while maintaining the recognisable style of East Kimberley artists.

Later in his career Paddy Bedford used the structural elements of black and white painting to create compositions into which he laid small amounts of contrasting colour. His later works were often more minimal than the major painters from the region who preceded him. Paddy Bedford is represented in major public and private collections both within Australia and internationally.

Solo Exhibitions

• 1998 My Country, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2000 Paddy Bedford, Chapman Galleries, Canberra ACT
• 2000 My Mother’s Country, My Father’s Country, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney NSW
• 2000 Selected Recent Works, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2001 Paddy Bedford, Raft Artspace, Darwin NT
• 2002 Significant Paintings, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney NSW
• 2003 Walking on the Line, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney NSW
• 2004 Rolling the Swag, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2005 Heart of Blackness, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2005 Black Note, Short Street Gallery, Broome WA
• 2007 Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney NSW
• 2009 AAMU, Paddy Bedford:Crossing Frontiers, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 1998 Paintings from the Jirrawun Aboriginal Community, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney NSW
• 1998 Jirrawun Artists from Crocodile Hole, Jemma Stowe, Perth WA
• 1999 My Country, Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin NT
• 1999 Painting Country, William Mora Galleries Melbourne VIC
• 1999 Jirrawun Artists, Chapman Galleries Canberra ACT
• 1999 Mapping Our Countries, Djamu Gallery, Australian Museum at Customs House, Sydney NSW
• 2000 Land Mark: Mirror Mark: Prints by Aboriginal artists from the collection of the Northern Territory
• University, Drill Hall Gallery Australian National University; later at Columbia State University USA; Kluge – Ruhe Collection of Aboriginal Art University of Virginia USA
• 2000 Opening 2000, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2000 Gaagembi – Poor Things, William Mora Galleries Melbourne VIC
• 2000 Christmas Exhibition, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney NSW
• 2000 East Kimberley Exhibition, Framed Gallery, Darwin NT
• 2001 Four men, Four Paintings, Raft Artspace, Darwin NT
• 2001 Ochre – Short Street Gallery, Broome WA
• 2002 Blood on the Spinifex, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC
• 2002 Rhapsodies in Country, GRANTPIRRIE at Art Miami, Miami USA
• 2003 Jirrawun Jazz, Raft Artspace, Darwin NSW
• 2003 Journey to Now: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide SA
• 2004 Talking about Abstraction, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, Sydney NSW
• 2004 Spirit and Vision – Aboriginal Art, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg, Austria
• 2004 2004: Australian Culture Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne VIC
• 2005 Beyond the Frontier, Sherman Galleries, Sydney NSW
• 2005 Jirrawun in the House: A Contemporary Vision from the East Kimberley, Parliament House, Canberra
• 2006 Jirrawun Artists, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne VIC
• 2006 Land Marks, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne VIC
• 2013 Landmarks and Law Grounds: Men of the Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA

Collections

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Private collections in Australia and internationally