Ray Thomas, born 1960, is a Gunnai painter of the Brabralung clan. Thomas began painting in the 1980s when he contributed to a number of Aborigines’ Advancement League murals in Melbourne. In 2002 he was commissioned to create a kangaroo design for a silver dollar produced by the Royal Australian Mint. His paintings are inspired by Gunnai stories and designs, his sense of affinity with Gippsland country (in eastern Victoria), and also respond to contemporary political issues of relevance to Aboriginal people. Exhibitions have included “Power of the Land: Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art” at the National Gallery of Victoria (1994), “Native Title Business”, which was toured nationally by the Regional Galleries Association of Queensland (2002-2005), and the solo exhibition “Secret-Sacred Country” (2002) at the Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne.
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- Writers:
- Fisher, Laura
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
