This Central Desert style has created the contemporary movement in Aboriginal art. It's captured the impetus, it's reached every part of Australian society. Therefore I think it is recognised as the prototype Aboriginal style.
You can probably show this work to anyone with a bit of artistic exposure and interest and they'll probably be able to recognise this, whether they're Australian or not. That's how deep it has gone in terms of recognising dot painting as belonging to a particular cultural group; it's quite extraordinary.
The desert area is enormous, it's getting up towards two thirds of the inland part of Australia, and the culture is shared, and the dot painting style belongs right across that region. So it is true that many think of this as what Aboriginal painting is.
Some Aboriginal painters who are not in that genre say, "Actually, we've been swamped. We've been swamped by the success of dot painting and it's really hard for us to make our mark from under the shadow of this huge movement that's had so much success."
So in a relatively short period of time a style has come to dominate what is thought of as Aboriginal art. It is good to reflect that just as there is great diversity within indigenous communities there is also great diversity in the style of art that is being produced by those communities.
If you scroll down the Japingka Artists page you’ll see instantly that contemporary Aboriginal art is dot painting and so very much more. Many of the indigenous artists at work in Australia today are extremely innovative.
It is still a joy to see exhibitions of dot painting coming in that take your breath away. It is also a joy to see new styles emerging that take traditions and build on them in exciting new ways.
I believe there is still so much life and possibility to this intriguing art movement. Even now, thirty years down the track for us, we are all still excited and curious when the new works come in. Whatever the style of paintings we see passion, commitment and a universal language that speaks for itself.
