TREVOR NICKOLLS - UNTITLED
TREVOR NICKOLLS
UNTITLED, 1989
61 x 76 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
REGION
Melbourne, VIC
PROVENANCE
CT/TNI42
STORY
Born in 1949 in Adelaide, South Australia, Trevor Nickolls leaves a large legacy to the art world. With a unique, inventive style he was a true innovator. He brought together disparate influences from Aboriginal art and Western art thereby creating a union between traditional and non traditional art – a new type of contemporary Aboriginal artist. In 1990 with Rover Thomas he represented Australia at the Venice Biennale, the first Indigenous artists to do so.
Since the 1970’s Trevor Nickolls has created art that is unique in style, incorporating some stylistic elements of traditional Aboriginal art such as dot painting and rarrk, in combination with imagery from diverse sources like comic books and the works of masters in the history of art. The resulting works at times contain complex iconography with multiple layers of meaning and at times combine tragedy with a wicked sense of humour.
A major theme for Trevor Nickolls’ work is Dreamtime to Machinetime, a theme which articulates the cultural transition from the traditional Aboriginal cultural heritage of the Dreamtime into the world of mechanisation and technology.
ARTIST PROFILE
