ROVER THOMAS

Thomas was born in Kunawarriji and until 1975 worked on cattle stations, but by 1979 had become recognised in the Aboriginal world as the Dreamer of the Kurirr-Kurirr dance cycle. In 1975 the spirit of an elderly woman from the Dunham River Station had come to him in a series of dreams, transmitting the signs of her spirit journey across the Kimberley to her Dreaming place. Rover painted this symbolic and spiritual journey for public Aboriginal ceremonies and by 1979 had become a leading representative of the Warmun community.

Rover’s work drew from traditional figurative East Kimberley rock art, using red, black or yellow pigments, emphasising forms with white pipe-clay stippling. His narratives recognised European and ancestral history, attracting national attention, alongside that of other Kimberley Aboriginal artists, giving rise to local commercial galleries and a vital indigenous movement.

In 1991 Rover represented Australia at the Venice Biennale. His work is held in the collection of the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne and the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria.