Education
Bardon studied law for three years at the University of Sydney, before changing to study art education at the National Art School in Sydney, graduating in 1965.
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Geoffrey Bardon
Edit Profileschool teacher Aboriginal painters
Career
He taught art at various New South Wales country high schools before taking up a posting in 1971 to teach at the primary school at Papunya, a remote Aboriginal settlement 250 km west of Alice Springs. While he only stayed 18 months, defeated in the end by a hostile white authority, his legacy saw the beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement. Eric Michaels comments on this in his essay "Bad Aboriginal Art",
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Began to interact with certain issues in 1960s and 70s international painting, especially the extreme schematisation of New York minimalism."
Bardon, however, claimed non-intervention.
Michaels went further to say that arguably the choice of materials (acrylic paint) was also an influencing factor. The Western Desert Painting Movement has provided the rest of the world with new ways of seeing.
Eventually, Bardon suffered a nervous breakdown and, upon his return to Sydney, underwent a period of deep sleep therapy with the notorious Doctor Harry Bailey, which left him weakened. Bardon worked closely with the Aboriginal painters who became the founders of the Papunya Tula painting movement during 1971 to 1973, and devoted many years after this to documenting and promoting the Aboriginal art which he so admired.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
March 6, 2003 (aged 63) -
Nationality
Australia