Onespace congratulates Teho Ropeyarn and Brian Robinson for their inclusion in the major new exhibition at Art Gallery of South Australia, ‘Too Deadly: Ten Years of Tarnanthi.’ Visit from 18 October 2025 – 18 January 2026 to view Ropeyarn’s artwork ‘Ayarra (rainy season),’ and Robinson’s ‘Empyreal: A Place and a Path in the Sky and on the Earth.’
Teho is descended from the Angkamuthi and Yadhaykana clans from Injinoo Country, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland; Badu, Moa and Murray Island in the Torres Strait; Woppaburrapeople (Great Keppel Island) and Batchulla people (Fraser Island). Ropeyarn’s work is celebrated for its sinuous rhythms, patterns, and imagery inspired not only by ceremonial body markings traditionally applied to Aboriginal dancers from his area, but also by local languages and natural and environmental features of place.
Ropeyarn writes that ‘Ayarra (rainy season)’ is “a work that is reminiscent of my life growing up in Injinoo, Cape York. This work specifically captures the month of December-January what is known as the wet season in Cape York and can last months… The work focuses on water as a regenerator of land and life seen in the water body across the top.”
Brian Robinson is of the Kala Lagaw Ya and Wuthathi language groups of the Torres Strait. Born on Waiben (Thursday Island) and now Cairns-based, Brian is known for his printmaking and public sculptures in which he uses a variety of techniques to produce bold, innovative and distinctive works.
“In the large-scale wall installation ‘Empyreal: A Place and a Path in the Sky and on the Earth,’ Brian Robinson draws our attention to how the sky also operates simultaneously as both a spiritual realm and a navigational tool.”
The exhibition celebrates the 10th year of Tarnanthi. “Since it began in 2015, Tarnanthi has established itself as a nation-leader in showcasing the nuanced complexity and radical ingenuity of up-to-the-minute contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.”
For more information, visit the AGSA website.
Images: Michael Jalaru Torres. Louis Lim. Courtesy of AGSA, the Artists and Onespace.