The Hard Light of Day (Paperback)

Rod Moss

ISBN 10: 0702237744 / ISBN 13: 9780702237744

Published by University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2010

About this Item

Paperback. Two years after artist Rod Moss arrived in Alice Springs to teach painting, he met a married couple who had set up camp in the gully beside his flat. Over the next 25 years, his friendship with Xavier and Petrina Neil and the friendships that grew from it with the families of Whitegate, an Arrernte camp on the outskirts of town, would nourish and challenge Moss beyond his imagining. The Hard Light of Day offers a rare insight into the reality of life in the Centre, from the contours of the MacDonnell Ranges and the textures and sounds of Arrernte culture, to the endemic violence, alcoholism and ill-health that continue to devastate Aboriginal lives. In recalling the relationships and experiences that have shaped his life and work in Alice Springs, Moss unsentimentally reveals the human face behind the statistics and celebrates the enriching, transformative power of friendship. Illustrated with Moss's evocative paintings and photographs, this is an incredible journey into a world never shown in the mainstream media, and an artist's chronicle of the moments that have inspired him. An insight into the reality of life in the Centre, from the MacDonnell Ranges and the textures and sounds of Arrernte culture, to the endemic violence, alcoholism and ill-health that are devastating Aboriginal lives. Illustrated with Rod Moss's evocative paintings and photographs, this is an artist's chronicle of the moments that have inspired him. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780702237744

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Hard Light of Day (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of Queensland Press, St Lucia
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0702237744
• ISBN 13: 9780702237744
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Written over the course of 25 years, this book is a candidly brutal and groundbreaking account of race relationships and friendships in the central Australian town of Alice Springs. In the early 1980s, artist Rod Moss arrived to teach painting in Alice Springs and soon was adopted as a family member by the local Arrernte people. Keeping a journal during the next three decades, he chronicled his experiences as he taught, struggled to paint, raised his children, and immersed himself completely in the Arrernte lifestyle. Filled with evocative photographs and paintings, this rare insight into the reality of life there illustrates the endemic violence, alcoholism, and rampant ill health as well as the enriching and transformative power of Arrernte friendships and culture.

About the Author

Rod Moss is a an artist who is represented by the Anna Pappas Gallery in Melobourne, the Fireworks Gallery in Brisbane, and the Peta Appleyeard Gallery in Alice Springs. He is the recipient of the Northern Territory Book of the Year Award.