John Prince Siddon with his works featured in Tarnanthi 2021, AGSA. Photograph by Saul Steed. Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts Centre.
Pulkartu (spider) (JPRI0013), acrylic on 3D print, 50 x 50 x 18 cm; Milky Way – Dreamtime Disco Drum V, acrylic on 44 gallon drum, 87.5 x 58 x 58 cm.
Installation view of Mangarri for the table by John Prince Siddon at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf.
Installation view of Mangarri for the table by John Prince Siddon at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf.
(L to R) Pulkartu (spider) (JPRI0013), acrylic on 3D print, 50 x 50 x 18 cm; Few Of Our Aussie Stars Can Be Like Our Animals, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 240 cm; Will the Lion Still Be King?, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 cm.
John Prince Siddon, a Walmajarri man of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, came to painting later in life but has more than made up for time with a prolific output of his distinctive paintings. With a style that he describes as “‘all mixed up”, Siddon uses canvas, oil drums, satellite dishes, kangaroo pelts, 3D printed bullock skulls, carved boab nuts, feathers and wood to create works that are both highly contemporary, yet often traditional in style.
Mangarri for the table, meaning ‘food for the table’ in Walmajarri, is a series of works that depict the recent class action against the Western Australian government for stolen wages that affected Siddon’s family and community. The exhibition is a collaboration between Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, Mangkaja Art Centre and Arthouse Gallery, as part of NAIDOC week.
View, in pictures, the poetry of John Prince Siddon’s visual language.
Numbat Night, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 150 cm.
Gold Rush, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 cm (Commissioned by Cement Fondu).
Mangarri for the table, acrylic on board and bullock skull, 110 x 200 cm.
Installation view of Mangarri for the table by John Prince Siddon at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf.
Feeding Time (detail), acrylic on kangaroo pelt, 175 x 82 cm.
Weather (detail), acrylic on kangaroo pelt, 166 x 102 cm.
(L to R) Feeding Time, acrylic on kangaroo pelt, 175 x 82 cm; Weather, acrylic on kangaroo pelt, 166 x 102 cm; Dingo, acrylic on kangaroo pelt, 184 x 93 cm; Mix It With Pride – Dreamtime Disco Drum VIII, acrylic on 44 gallon drum, 87.5 x 58 x 58 cm.
This Is How They Hunt Us, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 cm; Pulkartu (spider) (JPRI0015) , acrylic on 3D print, 50 x 50 x 18 cm; Numbat Night, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 150 cm.
Mangarri for the table
John Prince Siddon
Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf
On now—until 14 July
Farrago, the University of Melbourne’s student union newspaper-turnturned-magazine celebrates a hundred years of publication. At a time when print publishing in the arts is under increasing pressure, The George Paton Gallery is exhibiting ‘Farrago 100 Years’, celebrating the editorial legacy and design innovation of the periodical.
In our ongoing series, Shelf Portraits, Art Guide writers recommend the books—recently published or deserving of more attention—that shed new light on an idea that has long simmered in the art world or has helped them see a familiar medium in a different light.
The paintings of Betty Kuntiwa Pumani form a part of a larger, living archive on Antaṟa, her mother’s Country. More than maps, they speak to ancestral songlines, place and ceremony.
Spring1883, Melbourne’s interactive and immersive fair returns, celebrating the collision of contemporary art installed amongst 18th century decor of The Hotel Windsor.
A presentation of works by Robert Mapplethorpe curated by the British editor Edward Enninful, Enninful x Mapplethorpe, at the 2025 Ballarat International Foto Biennale, finds resonance in opposites while turning binary thinking on its head.
Alchemist and artist, Natasha Walsh’s new solo show, The Window, embarks on a “new beginning” at N.Smith Gallery in Sydney.
