Artist of the Week :: Russell James

19 December 2008

Discovery Kuruwarri, 2008. Photograph of Clifton Bieundurry by Russell James, Collaborative art by Clifton Bieundurry.

Russell James’ photograph of Bieundurry with his face in traditional ochre represents James' desire to understand the ancient culture of indigenous Australians. Bieundurrys’ collaborative art represents the essence of Walmajarri people and their bloodlines and beliefs; physically and spiritually. It is ingrained in their art and way of being and is passed down to generations as an artistic expression. Bieundurry learned from his Father, Uncles and Brothers and pledges to pass the knowledge to his own son.

Ngajimana minyarti nguwajanka. Minyarti nguwapa ngaji. Pirlajartipa ngaji. Ngajipaju pirlirr manyanjadu minyarti nguwanga. (Translation I am of this earth. The earth is of me. My flesh will perish. But in the earth my soul will rest.) The combined art piece represents the transfer of knowledge if we are willing to learn.

Over the past decade photographer Russell James’ images have been featured across a broad platform ranging from art projects exhibited for Hermes in association with the Guggenheim to leading fashion and photography journals such as Vogue, W, American Photo. While his images are synonymous with unique perspectives of many of the most prominent women of our time in the worlds of entertainment, fashion and beauty, he is highly renowned for his art project ‘Nomad Two Worlds’, that focuses on preservation of the world’s oldest surviving culture, the Australian Aboriginals.

Inhibition Warlu Juju (Translation – Apology). 2008. Photograph by Russell James, Collaborative art by Clifton Bieundurry. 5’ x 7’ archival pigment ink printed on rag cotton with acrylic and ochre applications.

Nomad Two Worlds is informed both by Australia’s ancient past and by an unfolding, present-day political narrative -- the apology issued by the Australian Parliament and Prime Minister to the aboriginal community. As an homage to aboriginal artistic tradition, James travelled through the North West of Australia and invited his indigenous collaborators to hand embellish his monumental landscape photographs, in effect painting aboriginal history into his own powerful, contemporary images. The project will be launched at an event hosted by Hugh and Deborra-Lee Jackman, Donna Karan, Lisa Fox and The Australian Government at the Urban Zen Center at the Stephan Weiss Studio on January 22, 2009. The Nomad Two Worlds preview exhibit will be open to the public from January 23-29, 2009 and will feature the launch of a ‘Nomad’ tribute song by musician will i am.

Inhibition Pindan, 2008. Photograph by Russell James, Collaborative art by Clifton Bieundurry.

The collaborative art collection is a three-tiered experience that explores the past, present and future of cultural collision and reconciliation through concepts entitled Innocence, Inhibition and Discovery. James travelled with indigenous artists and custodians to remote areas in the Kimberly Region of Australia and was allowed extraordinary access to sites of cultural significance-ancient burial grounds and landscapes associated with aboriginal dreaming and legend-which he photographed. Lead artist Clifton Bieunderry then painted the related ‘story’ onto enlarged canvases created from the photographs. The result; a spectacular visual art experience with a powerful message of reconciliation between the world’s oldest surviving culture and one of the worlds youngest.

Innocence Triptych, 2008. Photograph by Russell James, Collaborative art by Clifton Bieundurry.

Innocence Triptych represents the heart of the period of Innocence when indigenous culture and the earth were completely merged as one entity. Bieundurrys collaborative art is inspired wholly by Pirlirr as an expression of spirit that comes from land, culture and family. The connection of Aboriginal people to ‘country’ is integral to the continuity of cultural beliefs and practices. Pirlirr underpins the importance of family in how the spirit of Aboriginal culture is maintained and how the spirit of an individual is shaped.

In his traditional country every living and nonliving thing has a spirit and when elements of all these spirits come together they form a pirlirr (soul). This pirlirr will roam the country, sometimes for years or even decades, in search of the parents of an unborn child who will carry this pirlirr. When the pirlirr finds the right parents it transfers itself into a totem (jarriny), which comes in the form of an animal and while in the totem it will guide this animal into path of the parent/s. For traditional people with whom the totem makes contact, the animal is hunted and eaten for food; but for non-Indigenous people the pirlirr will guide the jarriny in the path of the parents and makes itself known that it has found the Mother/Father of carrier of this pirlirr. After the carrier has passed on the spirit disperses back into the earth from where it came.

The art piece represents the birth of a spirit/soul (pirlirr) to people who live in synchronicity with the ocean and the land.

Inhibition Jarluwarlany, 2008. Photograph by Russell James, Collaborative art by Clifton Bieundurry.

On January 28, teNeues publishing will launch a retrospective book of James’ works that will feature a powerful preview of James’ Nomad Two Worlds project.

James presently resides in New York City.
Bieundurry lives in Australia.