[ePub] The Hard Light of Day: An Artist's Story of Friendships in Arrernte Country by Rod Moss in Arts-Photography

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. An artists journey into the lightBy royden irvineA magnificent exploration between the white and black consciousness. A must for all interested in art anthropology!An exhilarating ride - won Australias Prime Ministers award for literature 20121 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A good read about the problems in the centreBy robert tozerA great read so factual.I lived on a community for 3 years and it was so similar to my experience1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Artist as HumanitarianBy Grady HarpTHE HARD LIGHT OF DAY is a book of wonders. For many in the United States the gifts of this artist. both in his paintings and his writings. are only vaguely known. Now thanks to the publication of this book we learn just how fine and artist and a humanitarian he is. This is a book for art lovers. for sociologists. and equal rights champions. and for historians as much of what Moss has to say traces a people closer to the original man than any we might encounter the Aborigines of Australia. In a recent issue of the art journal Poets an Artists the following observations were noted:In a global pandemic of instant communication via the growing armamentarium of sophisticated cell phones equipped as near computers jabbering in fragmentary symbols and inundated by input from the infinite number of blogs and twitters. the speed of current living seems to be approaching that of light. In this raucous atmosphere where history is not only discarded but nearly negated the presence of artists who keep us in touch with the flow of life is ever more important.Rod Moss is an Australian artist who. though well known in his own country. remains too little known in the international art field. and the reasons for discovering the art of this gifted painter go beyond admiration of his canvases. Moss has devoted his talent to focusing on the origins of life in the vast land of Australia by returning to the Aborigines. Rather than using the neglected and abused Aborigines as canvas fodder for his paintings. he has moved into Aboriginal territory. making his home in central Australia in a place called Alice Springs. distant in proximity and cultural diversity from the sophisticated major cites of Melbourne and Sydney. Here Moss witnesses the people who retain their affinity for the past - a people whose lives depend on survival within the day. not the collection of possessions or the luxuries of. say. `planning for the future. While many view these `backward creatures as poverty stricken drunkards whose attention to the law and to the white man ethics estranges them from society. Moss among others has grown into these families. learning their simple views of the cosmos. their own sense of dignity. their being at one with the earth. and it is this uniqueness that Rod Moss celebrates in his paintings by calling our attention to the differences as well as the similarities between these `primitive. original folk and the `civilized world.Each of Rod Mosss paintings has a dual meaning: each represents an event he has observed and each references imagery and ideas from famous Western paintings. often those with a biblical reference. as in RAFT (Gericaults Raft of the Medusa) and in INTERVENTION (Caravaggios Nativity). Moss also pays homage to the now popular Aboriginal art. art that is created from dots and rapid color wisps and references to primitive renderings not unlike cave drawings: these techniques he uses as his backgrounds for his figures and like the Aborigines. the constancy of the earth/time provides a contrast to the activity of the message of the people depicted in the paintings.Paintings such as CROW WHISPERS concentrate on the Aborigine people as themselves. A remarkable artistic technique is the manner in which Moss subtracts color from the skin of the Aborigines. electing instead to paint faces. hands and feet in black and white. In BIG ROOSTER these differences are marked: white men are in full color while the Aboriginal figure is in black and white. And when Moss elects to make a political statement. such as pleading for correcting the neglect and abandonment of abuse of the Aborigines (as in the portrayal of the supposed RECONCILIATION WALK) the poignancy of his commitment to his adopted family of man is most powerful.It is the obvious wealth of art history background always at work in the mind of Rod Moss coupled with the unique manner of painting the near indescribable quality of light found in the areas where the Aborigines live and the painterly choices he makes in visually describing what he sees and feels that makes this art so important. It is difficult for the viewer to be in the presence of a Rod Moss painting without absorbing at least some of the responsibility for the manner in which civilized man has pushed indigenous peoples into the background. all in the name of progress. Seeing what Moss sees. those basics of existence in a world so preoccupied with climbing success and possessions and gadgetry. reminds us of one of the important roles of our artists - preserving our history. even perhaps expanding our attention and concern for the neglected ones that exist in every society of this globe. Grady Harp. February 11