The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Tapa dura

At last, The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri presents a comprehensive account of the work of this extraordinary artist. Over 60 major paintings, all with detailed annotations and spanning more than two decades of his output, are reproduced in this volume. It makes accessible the development of a master painter of the Anmatyerre tribe, one of the founders and leaders of Western Desert art. The encyclopedic range, depth, conceptual complexity, technical skill and inventiveness represented here will astonish even the keenest admirers of his work. So might the obscure destiny - until now - of such great art in the display and consumption systems of the western art world. In the contemporary medium of acrylic on canvas, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri expresses both his custodianship of the ancient Dreaming stories of Aboriginal Central Australia recounted in his paintings, and the inexhaustible freshness and brilliance of his own artistic vision.

Dr. Vivien Johnson is a senior lecturer in Sociology at Macquarie University.