Artist Showcase | Arone Meeks

Clan group: Kuku Midigi
Language group: KuKu Yalanji

Arone (Raymond) Meeks (1957-2021) was born in Sydney and moved to Cairns, Queensland, in the late 1990s. During his lifetime Arone had a profound influence on Indigenous art in Australia.

Arone worked in a range of media including painting, sculpture and printmaking. He was one of the ten founding artists of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative which was established in 1987. He is also well known for his illustrations for numerous children’s books about life in the Australian bush. Arone’s work has been described as deeply intuitive and based on a quest for defining shifting interpretations of cultural identity. He described this process as ‘hunting for lost pieces of myself.’

Arone had an extensive exhibition career, and his work is represented in major Australian and international public galleries, and in many private collections in Japan, France, USA, Argentina and Australia.

His work is represented by Onespace Gallery, Brisbane.

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Exhibitions
Collection Works
Resources | Publications 
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Group Exhibitions | Highlighted Works

 

Carving Country: Indigenous Prints from The Collection
20 Jan - 29 Feb 2024

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Arone MEEKS, Celebration 2001, linocut, 118 x 169 cm, Cairns Art Gallery Collection. Commissioned, 2001.

Drawn to Water
6 Dec 2019 – 19 Feb 2020

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Arone Meeks, Long ago from the Sisi and the cassowary portfolio, 2018, gouache, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2018 Arone Meeks, Sisi walked along the banks from the Sisi and the cassowary portfolio, 2018, gouache, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2018 Arone Meeks, What would my mothers do from the Sisi and the cassowary portfolio, 2018, gouache, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2018

2021 FNQ Contemporaries
5 Feb – 13 Mar 2021

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Arone Meeks, Evidence I 2021, monoprint, Collection of the artist Arone Meeks, Evidence 2021, monoprint, Collection of the artist Arone Meeks, Evidence III 2021, monoprint, Collection of the artist Arone Meeks, Evidence IV 2021, monoprint, Collection of the artist

ARTNOW FNQ 2019
13 Dec 2019 – 2 Feb 2020

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Arone Meeks, Thylicine, Quinkan and Black Cat 2019, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, Collection of the artist

 

ARTNOW FNQ 2017
1 Dec 2017 – 18 Feb 2018

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Arone Meeks, Gender Spirit 2017, etching, watercolour, Courtesy of the artist Arone Meeks, Unbrroken Portrait II 2017, etching, watercolour, Courtesy of the artist Arone Meeks, Unbrroken Portrait III 2017, etching, watercolour, Courtesy of the artist Arone Meeks, ARTNOW 2017 install, Cairns Art Gallery 2017

 


ARTNOW FNQ 2015
27 Nov 2015 – 17 Feb 2016

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Arone Meeks, Renewing the Dreaming 2015, synthetic polymer paint, gel mediums on Belgium linen, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

 

Collection Works

Arone Meeks, Irukandji, 2003, linocut, handcoloured, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Editions Tremblay, 2012 Arone Meeks, Boab/shield/lovers, 2011, linocut, handcoloured, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Editions Tremblay, 2012 Arone Meeks, Celebration, 2001, linoprint, Commissioned by Cairns Regional Gallery, 2001 Arone Meeks, Lockhart River, 2001, synthetic polymer on canvas, Commissioned by Cairns Regional Gallery, 2001 Arone Meeks, Argoonie Doowie, 1988, lithograph, Gift of Anna Eglitis, 2007 Arone Meeks, Spirit Ark, 2009, linocut, ed. 3/5, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2011 Arone Meeks, Singing up country 13, 2010, monoprint, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2011 Arone Meeks, Singing up country 15, 2010, monoprint, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2011 Arone Meeks, Sisi walked along the banks from the Sisi and the cassowary portfolio, 2018, gouache, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Arone Meeks, 2018

 

Resources | Publications

Sisi and the Cassowary
Narrated by Arone Meeks
Draw to Water: Children's Book Illustration
Education Kit - Primary School

 

 

 

 

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The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.

The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.