The dealer is the devil

THE DEALER IS THE DEVIL

AN INSIDER’S HISTORY OF THE ABORIGINAL ART TRADE

author: Adrian Newstead OAM
foreword: Djon Mundine OAM
publisher: Brandl & Schlesinger

Part road trip, part memoir, part history, part political commentary, The Dealer is the Devil is informative thought-provoking and provocative. It is an incredibly exciting and fast paced account of the fluctuating fortunes and exponential success of the Aboriginal art movement, with all of the elements one would expect of a complex drama, played out on a national and international stage.

“Every rock, every hill, every water, I know that place backwards and forwards, up and down, inside out. It`s my country and I got names for every place.”

– Queenie McKenzie at Black Fellas Creek, Old Texas, 1995

The Dealer is the Devil is the story of the modern Aboriginal art movement – a most important and transcendent chapter of contemporary Australian art history. Within the space of just forty years, Indigenous artists transformed the perception of their culture from something of strictly ethnographic interest into one of the great internationally acclaimed contemporary art movements. Part road trip, memoir, history and political commentary,

The Dealer is the Devil is thought-provoking and provocative. It is a fast-paced account of the fluctuating fortunes and exponential success of the Aboriginal art movement, with all the elements one would expect of a complex drama, played out on a national and international stage.

“The text is a masterpiece of arts writing”

– Clive Tilsley, Books+Publishing

“Full of crucial history and unparalleled knowledge. It is a fabulous read”

– Fred Myers, Silver Professor, Department of Anthropology, New York University

REVIEWS

The Dealer is the Devil – ABORIGINAL ART DIRECTORY

Adrian Newstead is probably uniquely qualified to write a history of that contentious business, the market for Australian Aboriginal art. He may once have planned to be an agricultural scientist, but then he mutated into a craft shop owner, Aboriginal art and craft dealer, art auctioneer, writer, marketer, promoter and finally Indigenous art politician – his views sought frequently by the media. He’s been around the scene since 1981 and says he held his first Tiwi craft exhibition at the gloriously named Coo-ee Emporium in 1982. He’s met and argued with most of the players since then, having particularly strong relations with the Tiwi Islands, Lajamanu and one of the few inspiring Southern Aboriginal leaders, Guboo Ted Thomas from the Yuin lands south of Sydney.

ART DEALER ADRIAN NEWSTEAD’S REMOTE CONTROL – THE SATURDAY PAPER

He helped make Aboriginal art a boom industry. Meet Coo-ee gallery owner Adrian Newstead.

GRAND THEFT AUTO – AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

When a gang of outback kids hot-wired Adrian Newstead’s car, his consignment of works by Australia’s most revered painters were in the boot.

PORTRAIT OF THE ART DEALER AS THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Art dealers, like band managers, are not usually portrayed as heroes in our culture. Their role is to promote original artistic expression, although often they are viewed as exploiting it.

THE DEALER IS THE DEVIL – ARTS HUB

Adrian Newstead’s new expose on the Aboriginal Art Market has everyone talking.

THE DEALER IS THE DEVIL – VOGUE AUSTRALIA

The Dealer is the Devil, a short review in Vogue Australia