artist overview
Formed in 2016, The Tennant Creek Brio is a dynamic artist collective based in the Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek. Originating from an art therapy program run by Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation, the group brings together fringe dwellers, cultural leaders, and self-taught artists. Their high-energy visual language is shaped by lived experience and personal transformation, offering a powerful platform for creative expression and healing.
The Brio’s work is grounded in the complex history of their region—marked by colonisation, mission life, mining, and ongoing marginalisation. Through action paintings, installations, and performances, the artists confront this legacy head-on. Using salvaged materials like broken TVs, pokie machines, and roadside signage, they turn everyday debris into bold critiques and visual stories that reclaim space for Indigenous voices.
Drawing from Dreaming narratives, global mythologies, and pop culture references, the Brio blends the sacred with the everyday. Their works are theatrical, raw, and intensely spiritual, often depicting larger-than-life figures that honour ancestral presence and local strength. With major exhibitions like the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) and Gangsters of Art at Artspace Sydney, the Brio continues to push boundaries, embodying the spirit of their name—brio, meaning vivacity and creative fire.
