Bardayal “Lofty” Nadjamerrek AO

“Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek AO, a highly respected senior artist, ceremony man and traditional knowledge-holder who lived and worked in the escarpment country of Western Arnhem Land, in Australia’s far north. Born around 1926 in Kukkurlumurl, near the Mann River, Bardayal Nadjamerrek first encountered balanda (white people) as a teenager when he worked in a tin mine at Maranboy. He was a labourer for the Australian Army during World War II and undertook various jobs including timber cutting and road work until the late 1960s.
Bardayal first began painting for the western art audience in 1969 at Gunbalanya with the encouragement of missionary Peter Carroll. His artwork on bark, paper and in print media documents a contemporary art practice and its close connection to older living traditions. He painted as part of ceremony with natural ochres throughout his life. His repertoire quickly evolved from single figure artworks to more complex narratives of ceremonies he had participated in, as well as painting at important rock art sites connected to his Mok clan estate. His characteristic x-ray painting style uses blocks of colour and fine parallel hatching or line work that at times shimmer in effect.
Bardayal’s professional practice was inspired by the longest continuous art tradition in the world and one of the oldest forms of human expression ― rock art painting. He was the last of his generation of master painters to create artworks on the gallery walls of the escarpment country of the Arnhem Land plateau.
Bardayal passed away at Kabulwarnamyo in October 2009. Throughout his life he inspired others and passed his knowledge on to his children and grand children. This exhibition included a wall painting especially commissioned and painted by members of the artist’s immediate family. Source MCA (Online publication)