IAN ABDULLA

Ian Abdulla’s paintings contain stories from his childhood spent around the Murray River region in South Australia. Through words and pictures, Abdulla discusses his experiences - fishing, ploughing the fields, cycling and playing footy. The work is an important record, made all the more interesting through the subjectivity of hindsight. Naïve in style, the work has an unsuspected sophistication.

Ian Abdulla began painting in 1989 and was awarded South Australian Aboriginal artist of the year in 1991. He was featured in the Adelaide Biennial Beyond the Pale, 2000 and is included in all major public collections around Australia. His work has also been shown in Spain, The Netherlands, Japan and the United States, positioning him as one of Australia’s most important Aboriginal artists. The major publication on the artist, Ian Abdulla: Elvis has enterered the building, was published in 2003 and is available from the gallery store.