Arone Raymond John Meeks
Indigenous Australian, 1957 - 2021
Meeks’s art practice includes painting, sculpture, drawing and public art commissions as well as linoprints, etchings and monoprints. He is also an illustrator for children’s books and in 1988 his book ‘Kingfisher and Pheasant’ won the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards – Crichton Award for his illustrations and was shortlisted for Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards – Picture Book of the Year 1988. Another book of his ‘Enora and the Black Crane’ which he both illustrated and wrote won the 1992 UNICEF- Ezra Jack Keats Award for International Excellence in Children’s Book Illustration and the 1994 LIBBY Australia Ena Noel Award and was shortlisted for Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards – Picture Book of the Year 1992.
Meeks was founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Cooperative in Sydney in 1987 along with other prominent and politically active Aboriginal artists including Euphemia Bostock, Fiona Foley, Michael Riley, Tracey Moffatt, Jeffrey Samuels, Bronwyn Bancroft, Avril Quaill, Fern Martens and Brenda L. Croft. In 1987 he studied in Paris after winning an Australia Council fellowship and went on to exhibit throughout Europe and North and South America.
Meeks has been apart of a number of solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His works are in held in numerous collections both nationally and internationally. As well as a number of significant private collections including collections in Australia, Argentina, France, Japan, Thailand, The United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Jennifer Isaacs described Arone Meeks, the origins of his name and his relationship with the land and its waterways, in her Preface to 'Common Ground Exhibition catalogue', Drill Hall Gallery, June 1997:
'It was clear to Thancoupie from the beginning that Raymond Meeks was Arone the black crane: that large sinuous bird that alights gently on overhanging trees along water ways, bending its long neck to the water, solitary, seeking. The traditional stories were taught to Thancoupie by her aunty, Maethouone, and in time Thancoupie bestowed this name on Raymond Meeks.'
https://qnews.com.au/tributes-flow-after-death-of-cairns-indigenous-artist-arone-meeks/
Arone Meeks died on 5 May 2021 after a short battle with cancer at the age of 64.
'As well as an accomplished artist, Arone Meeks was also a leading advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Islanders living with HIV. Advocacy groups Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance and Positive Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Network (PATSIN) also paid tribute. “He provided a unique contribution to the HIV sector and pioneered a new way of storytelling,” they said. “Through art, he shared his story and that of his community by interconnecting aboriginal culture, HIV and health promotion. “His art was ground-breaking, giving a voice to those previously voiceless. Arone Meeks’ lasting legacy is a collection of artwork which will continue to have a profound impact on the way we understand the history of the HIV response in Australia”'.
Person TypeIndividual
