Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (circa 1920/1922 – 14 July 2007), aka Goowoomji, was a contemporary

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

painter and printmaker from Warmun in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He was one of eight Australian artists selected for an architectural commission for the roof and ceilings of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, France.

Early life and education

Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford was born in the East Kimberley around 1920 or 1922 at a property which gave him his surname – Bedford Downs Station. He grew up on Bedford Downs Station and worked as a stockman and road builder for the Western Australian Main Roads Department. The station's owner Paddy Quilty was the source of Bedford's given name, but Bedford's judgement of Quilty was at best forgiving, and could be harsh. Quilty was reputed to have been involved in a massacre of Indigenous people in the region before Bedford's birth, and Bedford's response to an invitation to visit Quilty's grave was "Why should I go see that old fucking bastard?".Tony Stephens, "'Millionaire' believer in 'two-way'", (Obituary), ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 20 July 2007, p. 18. In Bedford, he was heavily involved in traditional Gija law and ceremony, and became a senior lawman. Life for Bedford, like his parents, was hard and shaped by the harsh racial politics of early 20th century Australia. Bedford left Bedford Downs in the early 1970's as a result of the 1969 Pastoral Award legislation that resulted in the eviction of many Aboriginal workers. His parents survived but were displaced by incidents that involved the killing of Indigenous people. Many Gija people have recorded stories and painted as a means to explain massacres that occurred in their country. Bedford was at one stage sent to a

leprosarium A leper colony, also known by #Names, many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. ''Mycobacterium leprae, M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believ ...

, despite not having leprosy. When he married Emily Watson and had children, the children were taken away to a mission. Bedford, like many of the Indigenous men in the Kimberley, worked as a stockman, but was paid in rations. When the law in 1969 required equal pay for black and white alike, station owners responded by laying off their indigenous workforce, including Bedford. He worked for a while on road building, but ended up forced on to welfare by injury.

Art practice and career

Bedford was familiar with body-painting as a young man. He commenced painting on canvas in around 1997 or 1998, together with other artists from the Warmun / Turkey Creek locality, and encouraged by former gallerist Tony Oliver. Bedford's painting is loosely representational of landscape, and was influenced by the work of Rover Thomas. Although strongly influenced by traditional techniques and

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

from

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by hi ...

, it also addresses black-white relationships and historical events in his country. He painted a series illustrating the poisoning murders of Gija men on Bedford Downs in the 1910s. Bedford's homeland is featured in several of his works, with ''Old Bedford (2005)'' being a popular example. Bedford's work is unlike other Aboriginal work in that it features bolder, more vibrant colors. For examples, his pieces ''Doowoonan (2005) and Mount King (2005)'' both feature ambiguous, bright red and blue figures that rest on a black background. Bedford also explores a wide range of mediums, including ochre pigments with acrylic binder on canvas and board, as well as gouaches and pastels on paper. Bedford retired at Turkey Creek—a Warmun Aboriginal community established in the beginning of the 1970s that sought to provide shelter for workers that had been displaced due to the change in employment conditions. He began painting for exhibition after the establishment of the Jirrawun Aboriginal Art group at Rugun, a small community north of Warmun, in 1998 by Freddie Timms and Tony Oliver. Bedford was one several artists who owned Jirrawun Arts, a company established to assist the development and sale of works by indigenous artists from parts of the Kimberley. Following the death of Bedford, the remaining owners decided to wind up the business and sell its assets. Some notable works include ''Joowarringayin-Devil Dreaming'', ''Thoowoonggonarrin, Mt King - Emu Dreaming, Lightning Creek, and Cockatoo - Jawoorraban.''

Death and legacy

Bedford died on 14 July 2007. His art remains among Australia's most collectible, and has decorated aircraft as part of

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

' Indigenous Flying Art series.

Collections and exhibitions

Bedford was one of eight Australian artists selected for an architectural commission for the Musée du quai Branly,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, which opened in 2006. Their work adorns the roof and ceilings of one of its buildings. In addition to a number of solo exhibitions, his work was included in major group exhibitions such as ''Blood on the spinifex'' at the

Ian Potter Museum of Art The Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia was established in 1972. The Potter, as it is known locally, presents a curated exhibition program of historical and contemporary art. Through its activities the Pot ...

(2002–2003) and ''True Stories'' at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

(2003). A major retrospective exhibition of his work at the

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street, Sydney, George Street in The Rocks, Sydney, The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Cl ...

was curated by Russell Storer in 2007.Paddy Bedford at the MCA, Sydney
/ref> His work is represented in numerous major Australian and international collections, including the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

and the Musée du quai Branly.

References

External links

Paddy Bedford
at the