Johnathon World Peace Bush

Lives: Milikapiti, Melville Island, Australia
Skin: Takaringuiw (Scaly Mullet)
Country: Andranangoo (Goose Greek)
Dance: Tartuwali (Shark)

Johnathon World Peace Bush is an artist, poet, and human rights advocate. His gestural compositions project across space and boldly announce the authority of the artist’s hand. Bush’s works draw on his background as an Indigenous Tiwi Islander based on remote, traditional lands yet immersed in contemporary culture.

‘For both my Tiwi people and my global family I want culture to be strong. Without culture we are all lost…I hold the Western and Aboriginal law in my hands for all mankind to be equal. I have to balance both laws. I have been through many obstacles in order for my words to be heard. I hope my artwork gives a glimpse into my strong beliefs of a want for world peace and equality for all humankind: This time is your time. It is time for you to talk big. You need to fight to keep culture alive. I remember my older male ancestors saying this to me. They have all passed away now, but they have left work for me to do…it is important to link the past to the present for healthy future regeneration. Like a chain reaction. To fix up a family tree you have to go down to the roots and into the past. Love is the fruit of good family. I work for a future that is bright and where everything will be alright.’ – Johnathon World Peace Bush

Painted in natural pigments sourced from Melville Island, Bush’s paintings are in the three colours of Tiwi land – kurrujupuni, arrikininga, yarringa (white, yellow, red). Bush’s works re-imagine old anthropological images of Tiwi people and Catholic figureheads covered in Tiwi body paint design and ceremonial ornaments. Various accounts of his family’s historical encounters with colonial forces also feature. One of the dominant colonial experiences for the Tiwi came with the establishment of a Catholic mission on Bathurst Island in 1911. This confluence reflects on contemporary Indigenous identity. Applying Western religious imagery alongside a Tiwi visual language that predates the Renaissance, Bush makes work that questions mainstream assumptions.

‘We are fighting for recognition for our existence in our past, our present and the future. From the lesson of old to the lesson of new. There are paintings of my people fighting against the foreign power. My people had spears. They had rifles. Using powerful things to try to overpower my people in my native land.’ – Johnathon World Peace Bush

Johnathon World Peace Bush is attracting a strong institutional and collector following for his unique painting style, political engagement and bold lyrics. Bush has been honoured with the NGV x Country Road First Nations Commission, National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne 2024, and with a solo institutional exhibition at Linden New Art, Melbourne in 2023, curated by its Director, Dr Vincent Alessi, and showcased new work at the Armory Show, New York.

Other recent exhibitions include ‘UNLEARNING AUSTRALIA’, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), South Korea 2022; Sydney Contemporary 2022; Melbourne Art Fair 2022; ‘Tiwi Exhibition’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2021; ‘52 Artists, 52 Actions’, Artspace, Sydney 2021; ‘Groundswell’, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, 2020; ‘Yalininga Ngaritpantingija Ngirramini’, Aboriginal Signature Gallery, Brussels, Belgium 2020; ‘Tarnanthi’, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 2019.

In 2024 Bush was a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards (NATSIAA), the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, and the 68th Blake Prize. In 2023 Bush was a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the King & Wood Mallesons First Nations Art Award, and the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art 2023. In 2022 Bush was a finalist in 15 Artists at Redcliffe Gallery, Queensland and the Mosman Art Prize, Sydney.

Bush’s work is held in collections including Kluge-Ruhe Art Museum, Virginia, USA, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Art Gallery of South Australia.