Biography
Beaver Lennon Born 1988, Adelaide, S.A. Lives Ceduna, S.A. Art Centre: Ceduna Aboriginal Arts & Cultural Centre Selected biography Beaver Lennon has lived most of his life in Ceduna, South Australia. He is of the Mirning people on his grandmother’s side and the Antikirinjara people of South Australia on his grandfather’s side. His grandmother, Verna Lawrie, and his late mother, Bernadette Lennon-Lawrie, are also well-respected artists. His grandfather, Stanley Lennon, was also a talented artist who greatly influenced Beaver; he passed away in 2003. Lennon began painting for the Ceduna Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Centre in 2005. His earlier paintings were influenced by his grandmother’s Dreaming stories of the Bunda Cliffs along the South Australian section of the Great Australian Bight. These stories included images of whales and ocean themes. He is now more influenced by his grandfather’s Dreaming of Malu Tjuta (many kangaroos) and some of his paintings include depictions of kangaroos within vast open landscapes. Lennon also paints portraits and in 2008, after a workshop with Siv Grava and John Turpie, he completed My Jammu, My Grandfather, and a portrait of Stanley Lennon. Lennon paints in a realistic style, and his landscapes capture the distinctive open skies and vast expanses of country with an extraordinary degree of depth, inviting the viewer to step into his world. He favours the effects of early morning or late afternoon light, with romantic skies of rolling clouds that reflect the colours found underfoot. Through astute observational recordings, he maps out his deep connection to country. Lennon’s work has been included in several group shows including an Adelaide Festival exhibition Deadly. In-between heaven and hell, at Tandanya, the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in Adelaide, and tough(er) love at the Flinders University Art Museum City Gallery. He has also completed a series of commissioned murals on public buildings around Ceduna, c. 2008. Recently Beaver has been commissioned to do a triptych artwork overall size W 3.4 x H2.1m for the grieving room at the New Redevelopment of the Ceduna Hospital. This partnership includes Arts SA, SA Health, Country Arts SA, Far West Traditional Lands, and Ceduna (Tjutjuna) Arts & Culture Centre. Selected exhibitions 2006 2007 2008 Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Fleurieu Peninsula Youth Scholarship Award Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Group exhibition, Kuju Art Centre, Port Lincoln Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award, Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland Art Gallery Copyright 2013 The Artist, Ceduna Aboriginal Arts & Cultural Centre, and Marshall Arts. All rights reserved. 1 2009 2010 2012 2013 Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Deadly: Between Heaven & Hell, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide tough(er) love: art from Eyre Peninsula, curated by John Neylon, Flinders University City Gallery, Adelaide, then touring until 2015 Western Australian Indigenous Art Award, Art Gallery of Western Australia returning, connecting, Marshall Arts, Adelaide Awards & Honours 2007 Honoured Citizen Award for his service to the arts, Reconciliation Week, Ceduna 2010 Winner, Inaugural Acquisitive Art Prize, Our Mob, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre 2013 Western Australia Indigenous Art Award finalist Commissions 2008 Public murals, various locations, Ceduna 2013 Triptych, Grieving Room, Ceduna Hospital, Department of Health, Government of South Australia Publications 2012 2013 2013 Deadly. In-between heaven and hell, curated by Fulvia Mantelli and Renee Johnson, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Inc., exhib. cat. 2012. tough(er) love. Art from Eyre Peninsula, John Neylon, Country Arts SA, exhibition catalogue, 2013 Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards 2013, Art Gallery of Western Australia, exhib. cat. 2013. Collections Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide Copyright 2013 The Artist, Ceduna Aboriginal Arts & Cultural Centre, and Marshall Arts. All rights reserved. 2
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