Untitled 1992
acrylic on stonehenge paper
56 x 76 cms unframed
Untitled 1992acrylic on stonehenge paper
56 x 76 cms unframed
Untitled 1992acrylic on paper on canvas
78 x 58 cms unframed
Untitled 1993acrylic on paper on canvas
77 x 57 cms unframed
Spirit figure 1993acrylic on paper on canvas
100 x 70 cms unframed
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Brief biography
Born and raised in Alice Springs of Aboriginal-heritage parents, Cole was educated in the Western system but, as he later described, was 'surrounded by the great desert art movement'. Self-taught, he started painting in 1988 while employed by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association during which time he was influenced by the art movement at Utopia. Until his death in 1994, he continued to experiment with elemental colours and symbols characteristic of the art from Papunya, Utopia and Hermannsburg. He held two solo exhibitions in Sydney in 1991 and 1993, and his work was included in national group exhibitions including 'Perspecta' (Art Gallery of New South Wales 1993), 'Spirit and Place' (Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney 1996) and the 1998 Adelaide Biennial, 'All this and heaven too' (Art Gallery of South Australia 1998).
About the works
Cole's optical illusory style took dot painting to a different dimension. His work was characterised by closely applied white dots through which abstracted forms of landscape and spirit figures emerge from the underlying darker colour.
Works in the Allens collection
Untitled 1992
acrylic on stonehenge paper
56 x 76 cms unframed
Untitled 1992
acrylic on paper on canvas
78 x 58 cms unframed
Untitled 1993
acrylic on paper on canvas
77 x 57 cms unframed
Spirit figure 1993
acrylic on paper on canvas
100 x 70 cms unframed
