Saturday, 12 July – Friday, 12 September 2008

Affordable Australian Aboriginal Art!

Open House:              10:00 am– 6:00 pm

                                  Saturday, 12 July 2008

Each July, Houston’s major galleries are invited to participate in ArtHouston, sponsored by the Houston Art Dealers Association. Since 2005, we have focused our summer ArtHouston show on affordable Aboriginal art, priced from under $200 to $2,000.  (We realize that the word “affordable” means different things to different people, and we maintain an extensive stock of paintings both by emerging artists at the lower end, and by leading artists whose works sell for $5,000 and up.) 

This year we are featuring colorful acrylic works on canvas by the artists of Yuendumu, a central desert community west of Alice Springs. The paintings are vibrant depictions of the artists’ personal Dreamings, or ancestral stories, and of their country, or traditional lands. We are also showing some distinctive works on paper – paintings in natural pigments (ochres or clays and charcoal ground to a fine powder and mixed with a fixative) by the artists of Oenpelli, near Australia’s famous Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage site known for its extraordinary ancient rock drawings. These western Arnhem Land works are quite different from those of the desert, with unique patterns and figures of land and water spirits and the wildlife of the coastal area. 

In addition, we are showing carved and painted mimih spirit poles from Arnhem Land, carved boab nuts from the Kimberleys, and wearable Aboriginal art – gum nut and seed necklaces from the central desert, and shell necklaces from Yirrkala in western Arnhem Land!

Fast Thinking’s AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER 2008:

“Aboriginal art is one of Australia’s greatest cultural exports to the world, having captured the imagination of curators and collectors alike for its visual vitality, diversity, cultural significance and ambiguity. In just 30 years, this movement has put Australian artists on the world stage . . . and has played an unquantifiable role in bridging the understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

“Some Aboriginal art is certainly equal to, if not superior to some of the best contemporary art being produced anywhere in the world,” owner of Booker-Lowe Gallery, Houston, Texas, Ms. Nana Booker, says.”

“Earth Colours”

Paintings in natural pigments by the acclaimed artists of Waringarri Art Centre, Kununurra, Western Australia

Booker-Lowe will be delighted to host its first exhibition devoted exclusively to the elegant paintings of the leading and emerging Kimberley artists from one of Australia’s most-respected
art centres, Waringarri.   

We visit Waringarri regularly, and have been working on this exhibition with coordinator, Cathy Cummings, for almost a year.  At first glance, the works appears simple, with large colour fields and forms, but their often-subtle palettes and velvety textures are powerfully evocative of the ancestral lands they represent.

ongoing...

The Ceramic Vessels of Pippin Drysdale

Booker-Lowe is proud to represent acclaimed Australian ceramist, Pip Drysdale, in the United States, and shows a few select pieces of her work on a regular basis. Currently, we are exhibiting vessels from the Tanami Desert collection. Pip has won countless awards, and has had solo exhibitions in Japan, Germany, Belgium, France, India, Hong Kong, London, New Zealand, Russia, and throughout Australia 

Mark your calendars now for Pip’s first major solo shows in the U.S., at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, February – March 2010, and at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, August – October, 2010

Don't forget, if you're visiting the Chesapeake Bay area . . .
Booker-Lowe Gallery displays Australian Aboriginal art at the acclaimed Inn at Easton, a lovely restored mansion in the historic district of Easton, Maryland. The owner, renowned Australia-trained chef, Andrew Evans, saw some of our collection at an exhibition at the Australian Embassy in nearby Washington, DC, and contacted us about showing paintings at the Inn, located in quaint Easton, which was recently rated as one of the “ten best towns to live in” in America. Check out the Inn (and the paintings on the walls) at www.theinnateaston.com.

© Booker•Lowe Gallery 2014, 4623 Feagan Street, Houston, Texas 77007 USA
Tel: 713.880.1541 Fax: 713.862.8364
info@bookerlowegallery.com