Details of Daniel Walbidi
About
Daniel Walbidi comes from a small costal community 250km south of Broome called Bidyadanga which is the traditional homeland of the Karrajarri people. Formerly La Grange Mission, it is where people were brought into from the desert to help build the cattle stations there. This is how Daniel's desert parents came to live at the coast. Bidyadanga has five tribes living within the community. Daniel says, "We all speak and understand each other's languages and live together as one big family." At the age of 16 Daniel actively sought to exhibit his work. He was painting on wood board, old doors, off cuts and anything he could find to express himself. He urged the elderly people in the community to start painting so that he could learn about his people's history and cultural background. He has since become initiated and continues to paint and exhibit his work around Australia. He has been collected by some important institutions and is driven to keep painting. A documentary has been made about his work and the story of his people called Desert Heart which screened on the ABC in March 2008. He continues to display a complex understanding of his traditional country in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia.
Daniel Walbidi was named among the Top 50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists in Australian Art Collector for 2011
EDUCATION
La Grange School, Bidyadanga, WA
University of Notre Dame, Broome, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009 Daniel Walbidi 10 years of Painting, Short St Gallery, Broome WA
2007 Winpa, Short St Gallery @ Mary Place, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
2006 Daniel Walbidi, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Heart and Soul, The Laverty Collection, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2011 Shalom Gamarada Ngiyani Yana Art Fair 2011, Sydney, NSW
2011 Pearls, Paint & Ilma, Aratong Galleries, Australian High Commission, Singapore
2011 Kirriwirri, Aboriginal and Pacific Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2011 Bidyadanga Recent Paintings, Chapman Gallery, Canberra ACT
2010 Bidyadanga Artists Harvey Arts Projects, SunValley, Idaho, USA
2010 GRAND NORD GRAND SUD - Artistes inuit et aborigines Daolas Museum, Britany, France
2010 Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from Australia, The Metropolitan Museum of New York, USA
2010 Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building. - Short St Gallery & William Mora Galleries present the Yulparija artists
2009 2009 WA Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
2009 Shalom Gamarada Aboriginal Art Exhibtion, University of NSW, Sydney
2009 26th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, Darwin
2009 From Desert to Saltwater Country, Redot Gallery, Singapore
2008 25th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, Darwin
2008 Xstrata Emerging Indigenous Art Award, Modern Museum of Art, Brisbane, QLD
2008 Desert to Saltwater, Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA
2008 From Desert to Saltwater, Booker-Lowe Gallery, Houston Texas, USA
2008 Bidyadanga Artists 2008, AP Bond Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA
2007 Yulparija Artists, New Works on Board, Short St Gallery, Broome WA
2007 Yulparija Artists New Works on Board, Short St Gallery, Broome WA
2007 Winpa, Raft Art Space, Darwin, NT
2007 Desert Heart, Nevill Keating Gallery, London, England
2007 From the Bungalow I: Yulparija Artists, Johnston Gallery, Perth, WA
2006 Bidyadanga Men, Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2006 2006 Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW
2005 Return of our land, Gallery Gondwana, Alce Springs, NT
2005 Recent works from Kirriwirri, Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2005 22nd Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards, MAGNT, Darwin
2005 Big Country, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
2004 Desert Ocean, Short st. Gallery @ Kidogo Gallery, Fremantle, WA
2004 Bidyadanga Artists, William Mora Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2004 Bidyadanga Artists Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2004 New Works by Bidyadanga Artists, Raft Art Space, Darwin, NT
2004 Desert to Saltwater, Short st. Gallery @ Mary Place Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2003 Manjyiljara, Short st. Gallery, Broome, WA
2001 Salon Show, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, NSW
2001 From here to there, Short st. Gallery, Broome, WA
2000 Remote Schools exhibitions, Short st. Gallery, Broome, WA
2000 NAIDOC Week exhibition, Short st. Gallery, Broome, WA
2000 Stompen Ground exhibition, Goolari Media, Broome, WA
1999 Remote Schools exhibition, Matsos, Broome, WA
COLLECTIONS
Sam Barry Collection
Baillieu-Myer Collection
Laverty Collection
Artbank
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Felton Collection
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Parliament House, Canberra
Newscastle Regional Gallery
Lepley Collection, Perth
Wesfarmers Collection
Corrigan Collection
The Kingston Collection, UK
COMMISSIONS
2005 Winnebago Industries, Walbidi Adventurers
Bibliography
Geissler, Marie. 'Daniel Walbidi, Impressions from a Desert Culture', Craft Arts International, No. 82. 2011 p. 42 - 50
Adrian Newstead, 'Aboriginal Art's 'Bran Nu Dae', "Art Market Report, Issue 25, First Quarter 2010, p. 25.
2008 ABC artpost website,http://artpost.abc.net.au/kickapps/_My-Work/BLOG/111758/50484.html
"Xstrata Award 2008", print catalogue, Modern Museum of Art, QLD, 2008
"Desert Heart", documentary by Rebel Films, now a selling DVD, also shown on ABC 1 & 2, March 2008
"Beyond Sacred: Recent Paintings from Australia's Remote Aboriginal Communities -
The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty", Hardie Grant Books Australia, 2008
"Heart of our country" Bridget McManus, The Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper, The Guide section March 17-23 2008
"Desert blooms again". by Stephen Bevis, The West Australian Newspaper, Friday March 14 2008
'Our Old People Need to Paint', Nicolas Rothwell, The Australian Newspaper, 29th January, 2008
'Tribal Landscapes', Clive Aslet, The Financial Times, London, July 7/8 2007
'Contemporary Artist Keeps With Tradition', Xavier Dhalluin, Broome Happenings, Issue 77, 2006
'The Blue Dreams of a Desert Mob at Sea', Patrick Hutchings, The Age, 14-15th April, 2006
'In Living Colour', Julianna Dowling, Notebook, Jan 2006
The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art, 2006
