Billy Doolan facts for kids

Frederick William Doolan Jnr (born 1952), also known as Billy Doo, is an Australian Indigenous artist. He lives in Townsville, Queensland, but often creates his art in Melbourne, Victoria.

Billy Doolan's art has been shown in many important exhibitions. From 2010 to 2012, he had his own show called "Between Sky and Sea" in Melbourne. He was also a major part of a huge exhibition in Italy called "Dreamtime Lo Spirito Dell'Arte Aborigena" (Dreamtime: The Spirit of Aboriginal Art). This show ran from February to August 2011. It was seen by 25,000 people, and 2,000 school children learned about Aboriginal art there. It was the largest public showing of Aboriginal art ever held overseas, with almost 90 artists and over 350 artworks. Billy Doolan was the biggest contributor, with 22 of his pieces chosen for the exhibition.

Early Life and Family

Billy Doolan was born in 1952 on Palm Island, Queensland. This island was once a place where Aboriginal people were sent to live. His mother came from the Gulf of Carpentaria area, and his father, who shared his name, was from Central Queensland.

Billy Doolan's family did not stay long on Palm Island. His father, Frederick William, was a leader in a protest by workers on Palm Island in 1957. Because of this, his family was moved from Palm Island to Townsville on the mainland. They settled in a place called Happy Valley.

Billy Doolan's Art Career

Billy Doolan is known for painting with synthetic polymer on linen. His artworks have been featured in several important exhibitions.

Early Exhibitions

In 2001, his works were shown in an exhibition called "Gatherings" in Brisbane. This show featured contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from Queensland. A book with the same title was released at the exhibition.

His art was also part of "Gatherings 11" in 2006, which was held at the Queensland Art Gallery. Another book with his work was launched at this event.

In 2009, Billy Doolan was a finalist in the Victorian Aboriginal Art Awards in Melbourne. This showed how important his art was becoming.

International Recognition

The "Dreamtime Lo Spirito Dell'Arte Aborigena" exhibition, which traveled in Italy in 2011, featured 22 of Billy Doolan's artworks. A special Italian catalog was published for this exhibition, showing his pieces.

In 2010, Billy Doolan had his first big solo exhibition called Between Sea and Sky: Songs of a Voyage in Melbourne. For this show, he created eight paintings inspired by a trip to Sicily in 2009. He worked hard to show Sicilian history and life in a respectful way.

This Sicilian project led to a very large non-commercial exhibition of Indigenous artwork that traveled outside Australia. It was first called "The Rainbow Serpent" and later renamed Dreamtime. This exhibition included 90 artists, and Billy Doolan was the biggest contributor with 22 pieces out of over 350 artworks.

The "Between Sea and Sky" exhibition also toured four cities in Sicily in 2012.

Special Projects and Collaborations

In 2013, Billy Doolan was asked to write about his visit to Mount Etna, a famous volcano in Sicily. One of his paintings in the "Between Sea and Sky" exhibition was of Mount Etna. This painting and his statement helped the Mount Etna Association in their successful bid for Mount Etna to become a World Heritage Site in June 2013.

A didgeridoo painted by Billy Doolan was also given to the UNESCO office in Rome. It is now part of their collection and can be seen by the public.

In 2014, Billy Doolan was invited to be an artist-in-residence at The Hong Kong Institute of Education. During his visit, he took part in UNESCO International Arts Education Week events. He also gave talks about art, heritage, and Indigenous culture. He led painting workshops and exchanged ideas with artists and educators in Hong Kong.

He created nine paintings during this time, showing his impressions of Hong Kong. His goal was to blend Chinese and Aboriginal cultures. Billy Doolan has Chinese heritage through his great-grandfather, Sam Wing, who came to Australia in the late 1800s.

Billy Doolan also worked with Amanda Feher to create two metal sculptures for the Jezzine Barracks in Townsville. These sculptures, called "Canoe People" and "Gabul Creation Story," were officially opened to the public in April 2014.

A short film about Billy Doolan's visit to Hong Kong was released in April 2014 by Creative Cowboy Films. In May 2014, the first two paintings from his Hong Kong series, "Nine Dragons of Kowloon" and "Cranes," were revealed.

Magazine Features

Billy Doolan's work has been featured in magazines. Essentials Magazine published an article called "A Mighty Heart Billy Doolan" in their Autumn 2011 issue. It showed three of his paintings that were touring Italy at the time.

Italianicious Magazine also featured his work in their November–December 2011 issue. The article, "Impressions of Sicily," showed paintings from the "Between Sea and Sky" exhibition.

See also

• Art of Australia