At a hinge-point in his life; artist and ex-gallerist Tony Oliver travelled to the East Kimberley; where he plunged into the crosscurrents and eddies of the Aboriginal art world. He would stay for almost a decade; working alongside a group of senior Gija artists; including acclaimed figures Paddy Bedford and Freddie Timms; to establish Jirrawun Arts; briefly one of the country’s most successful and controversial Aboriginal painting collectives. 

The Stranger Artist follows Oliver’s journey and the deep relationships he formed; an experience that forever altered his life’s trajectory. His story will draw readers close to what he came to know of Kimberley life: the immersion of culture and spirituality in the everyday; the importance of Law; the deep and abiding connection to country; and the humour and tragedy that pervade the Aboriginal world.

Evocative and absorbing in equal measure; The Stranger Artist tells not only of the connections that can be formed through the sharing of mutual interests and experiences; but of what it takes to live between cultures.