Large Wall Art By Damien & Yilpi Marks
Where do you find large wall art for spaces like the foyers of contemporary buildings? It’s the type of art that will sit well with neutral interiors. It is larger scale art with a warm focus that adds life and energy to a room.
The latest works by husband and wife team Damien and Yilpi Marks are perfect for this. These paintings are dazzling. They use the full intensity of colour with brilliant hues of purples, reds and blues mixed in with yellows, oranges and earthy brown colours.
It is easy to imagine how works like this can add warmth and life to those large foyer spaces we see in city buildings and major residential projects.
The work is accessible because it uses recognisable forms and shapes. The colours attract and hold your attention. The complexity of design offers so much that creates interest. These are engaging paintings that delight the eye. You don’t have to know everything about Aboriginal art to enjoy them.
These works come from Central Australia. The two artists Damien and Yilpi have come from backgrounds in Ernabella and Papunya communities of Central Australia. They are using some of the symbols made famous by artists like Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.
Damien Marks was a young person at Papunya School when the whole Desert Art movement started. It happened around him in his community during the 1970s and 1980s. You can see the inspiration taken from those culturally significant times.
These paintings also have aspects of contemporary Aboriginal work that we recognise from paintings of the 1990s. The use of colour is extraordinary. The variations of tone and intensities of colour create a setting for the shapes that are symbols from Tjukurrpa Dreaming stories and their associated ceremonies, and from bush food, and other activities.
Damien Marks was a young person at Papunya School when the whole Desert Art movement started. It happened around him in his community during the 1970s and 1980s. You can see the inspiration taken from those culturally significant times.
These paintings also have aspects of contemporary Aboriginal work that we recognise from paintings of the 1990s. The use of colour is extraordinary. The variations of tone and intensities of colour create a setting for the shapes that are symbols from Tjukurrpa Dreaming stories and their associated ceremonies, and from bush food, and other activities.
There’s also a strong sense of movement in these artworks. You’ll notice landscapes with creeks, gullies, rocks and hills all marked. It offers you a dynamic view of this central Australian country.
The artists use bands of colour often in a zigzag pattern, that seem to show an energy wave that’s going across their country.
These are highly energetic paintings; they just set the wall on fire. They’re a combination of abstract views and aerial views along with symbols that come straight out of traditional desert iconography, but they all seem to harmonise together on the canvas. They’re highly dynamic yet also harmonious.
I can easily imagine these paintings being perfect in a big commercial foyer or as large wall art in a home. They are energetic, vibrant and exciting. In the neutral environments, paintings like these could lend so much soul and focus.
This exhibition by Damien and Yilpi Marks will be on display in Gallery 2 from 22 September – 31 October 2017. I hope you get a chance to see this exciting work.