Off the wall and on the money with new-wave art

Otis Hope Carey has always been a painter, but it wasn’t until recently that the professional surfer and father of three began to call himself an artist.

Artist and surfer Otis Hope Carey in his home studio in Coffs Harbour with daughter Elky. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Otis Hope Carey has always been a painter, but it wasn’t until recently that the professional surfer and father of three began to call himself an artist.

“I had my first solo show in 2016. I was worried people weren’t going to understand or connect to my painting the way I wanted them to,” said Carey, a proud Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man. He didn’t need to worry, because his contemporary take on ancient Indigenous symbolism struck a chord with the arts community.

Carey’s painting Ngalunggirr miinggi (healing spirit) was named a finalist in the 2020 Wynne Prize. A soft tangle of dots and lines, it tells the story of his grandmother re-entering Gaagal, the ocean, which is a totem of the Gumbaynggirr people.

“It was an honour to get that recognition,” Carey told The Australian. “But what I’m trying to achieve isn’t just in that realm. For me, painting is about telling the stories I’ve learnt in a different light, and creating a safe space for positive conversations around ­Indigenous culture.”

Carey is one of 50 artists whose works have been selected to appear in The Australian’s inaugural summer art exhibition, which was unveiled online today. A selection of the works that feature in the exhibition is also displayed in the Life and Times pages today.

Spanning painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper, its diverse display captures the spirit of contemporary art in Australia. Every work featured in the exhibition is also on the market.

Working from his garage in the northern NSW region, Carey is characteristic of a new generation of Australian artists making work that resonates with a younger, more diverse cohort of collectors.

Bringing different audiences into the gallery setting is something Carey, 32, is proud of.

“I’d like to think [my paintings] are healing other Indigenous people, as well as healing our relationships with non-Indigenous people,” he said. “It’s nice to see ­people gravitating towards it.”

While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the arts, the primary market in Australia — which deals in artworks being sold for the first time, either through a commercial gallery or directly through an artist’s studio — appears in relatively good health.

When physical galleries had to close, digital platforms like Art Money, an Australian fin-tech company that created a buy now, pay later model for the commercial arts world, enabled collectors to continue buying works online.

Art Money chief executive Paul Becker said his company experienced a rise in sales during 2020, even doubling year-on-year sales in some months.

“There’s a huge latent demand in the art market,” Mr Becker said. “So many more people want to engage, and it‘s only an inefficient marketplace preventing this.”

Today, 1260 commercial galleries are partnered with Art Money. China Heights, the Sydney gallery that represents Carey, is one of them.

Carey is currently busy preparing for his upcoming solo show , which opens at China Heights on February 12 and takes its name from his Wynne finalist – Ngalunggirr Miinggi, which means healing spirit in Gumbaynggirr, one of Carey’s ancestral languages. The show will expand on the central thread connecting all of Carey’s work: healing.

“These paintings are my way of showing people that a healing process can be a beautiful process.”

Otis Hope Carey’s work will be on show at Sydney’s China Heights Gallery from February 12 - March 13, as part of a solo exhibition titled ‘NGALUNGGIRR MIINGGI (Healing Spirit). For more information see here.

View our entire Summer Exhibition here.