Rod Moss, The Gift of Butterflies, 2015, 90 x 125cm

Rod Moss has lived in the Aboriginal community, Whitegate on the eastern fringes of Alice Springs, for almost three decades, forging close ties with the community. Breaking the barriers of what Moss considers “a politically correct, insulating silence” within the Australian art scene, Origin of the New Poetics depicts the people of Whitegate in extraordinarily personal, vulnerable and private moments.

Moss’ narrative paintings show resolute scenes in which the impact of alcohol and violence are unflinchingly depicted, contrasted with tender moments showing cultural milestones and family rituals. Appropriating compositions from the Old Masters and religious paintings, his artworks are familiar yet foreign, romantic yet confronting.

This is Moss’ fourth solo exhibition with Anna Pappas Gallery. Moss was awarded the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Non-fiction in 2011 for his first memoir The Hard Light of Day. Moss’s second memoir, One Thousand Cuts: Life and Art in Central Australia was launched in conjunction with a retrospective exhibition at Anna Pappas Gallery in 2013

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