Tommy Carroll / Dingo Dog Lost (2B)

Tommy was born in 1956 at Doon Doon Station in the East Kimberley and worked as a stockman for many years. His knowledge of the country in which he worked is extensive and the pivotal focus of his paintings.

He is a natural – his style is strong, individual, balanced, striking. It is obvious that he has never followed in anyone’s footsteps – his works are most definitely by Tommy Carroll. The paintings flow with the landscape – from minimal yet precise black and white to vibrant reds and bright yellow to the softer black/brown/green of his grandfather, Paddy Carroll’s country.

He has participated in Solo and Group Exhibitions throughout Australia – his paintings have been acquired by important collectors, the National Gallery of Australia and the Parliament House Collection. Tommy’s works are popular world-wide, as many collectors from America, Germany and Holland have discovered and collected and continue to commission works by this now well established artist.

A man of few words, a focused, professional artist – minimal by style, not by market preference.

Selected Solo & Group Exhibitions

2012
• Mabel Juli & Tommy Carroll, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi

2009
• Ochre: A Study in Materiality, Short Street Gallery, Broome

2008
• East of East Kimberley, ReDot Gallery, Singapore

2007
• Ralph Pucci International Gallery, New York (in association with Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin)
• Greetings From Turkey Creek, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
• “From the ground up: Ochre work from the Kimberley”, Chapman Gallery, Canberra

2006
• Gentlemen of Warmun, Seva Frangos Art, Perth
• East Kimberley Artworks, Japingka Gallery , Perth
• Warmun Art Centre Presents, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney

2004
• Mabel Juli & Tommy Carroll, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney

2003
• Solo Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
• Recent Works by Warmun Artists, Framed Gallery, Darwin

2002
• Solo Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
• Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
• Colleen Carter, Tommy Carroll and Katie Cox, Span Gallery, Flinders Lane, Melbourne
• Collectors Show – in association with Seva Frangos, Span Gallery, Flinders St, Melbourne

2000
• Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra

Selected Collections
• Australian National Gallery, Canberra
• Parliament House Collection, Canberra
• Artbank, Sydney
• Broadmeadows Health Service Collection, Victoria

There are lots of Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) stories about an old man and his dingo dog. That old man, he went out with his dogs one day hunting – he needed those dogs to help him hunt for kangaroo. He made his camp in between those two hills right at the bottom – lit a fire and had a good feed. But when he’d finished, well he chucked his left-over food into the fire – didn’t feed his dogs. They were pretty mad about that – he was a mean old fella. So they decided to run away. That man woke up next day and saw most of them running away, but one he thought would always stay, no matter what he did to it. Well, he was wrong. That really good dog, he’d had enough like the rest. The man ran up those hills, calling out for that dog because he thought he was just lost – but he wasn’t – he caught up with the rest of them and never came back to this place. That old man’s spirit is still there – you can hear him calling out some nights – still waiting for that good dog to come back.