Our life ... is land ... is culture

Aboriginal Art Directory | 10.07.08

SAMANTHA HOBSON: Our life ... is land ... is culture, 11TH SEPTEMBER– 18th OCTOBER 2008. London Solo Debut

At 27, Samantha Hobson is one of a handful of young celebrated Aboriginal artists exhibiting widely both in her native Australia and abroad.

Samantha Hobson began painting with the Lockhart River Art Gang, a group of young Indigenous painters from the remote Lockhart River community on the east coast of the far northern tip of Queensland. The Lockhart River Art Gang grew out of an alternative secondary school programme. The Art Centre soon became the nucleus for a dynamic school of creative development. Hobson is one the original group who are now forging successful solo careers.

Her work is inspired by the beauty of the East Cape and by the fast disappearing traditional beliefs, with darker references to domestic violence and harsh social conditions experienced by many Aboriginal peoples in isolated communities. Her lucid visions have been described as pieces where the ‘sunshine grabs every colour in the rainforest, low mountain ranges, sandy beaches and deep sea, and illuminates it like a light box.’ (Kathleen Noonan. September 30, 2006. The Courier Mail)

Her work is close to abstract expressionism, sitting outside the accepted traditions of aboriginal iconography.

She held her first solo exhibition in 2000 when she was just nineteen. Since then Hobson has held nine further solo exhibitions of her work in Brisbane and Melbourne and has participated in group exhibitions all over Australia, as well as in Singapore, Austria, Germany, Italy, France and the United States. Her works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Columbus State University, Georgia, USA and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA.

Exhibition: Samantha Hobson: Our life ... is land ... is culture
Exhibition dates: 11 September-18 October 2008
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12.30 – 5.30pm
Press contact: Sophie Dunsmure
Email: press@octobergallery.co.uk
Nearest tubes: Holborn/Russell Square Buses:19, 25, 38, 55, 168 & 18

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Contact Details

Gallery: The October Gallery
Contact: Margaree Cotten
Email: margaree@octobergallery.co.uk
Telephone: +44 20 7242 7367
Address: 24 Old Gloucester Street Bloomsbury London WC1N 3AL