Dirty MOFO. Oil and Acrylic on canvas 180cm x 180cm
This work was an idea of Andrew’s done in collaboration with the artist Kisho
Chihuahua Diablo Oil on canvas 103cm x 103cm
High on Flatlining oi on canvas 173cm x 215cm
Intravenous Propaganda (1) oil on linen 34cm x 47cm
N Kelly Best and Fairest Glenrowan Seniors 1880 oil on linen 47cm x 57cm
She’s Into Me oil on linen 43cm x43cm
What came first acrylic on canvas 88cm x 120cm
Narcissus Must Die - oil on canvass 295cm x 190cm 2023
The New Narcissus Must Die - almost a self portrait, was painted in direct response to illuminating a highly toxic person from my life - and was the final piece of art I created that helped me to overcome my PTSD. Unleashing the demon has given me a freedom and internal peace I never thought I would know.
The spear - a gift from a Yolngu Elder - came with advice in the form of a warning concerning that toxic person; which was heard and acted on - and is the force of sixty hard years concentrated into one finely honed point that is about to deliver the new narcissist a final, painful lesson.
Andrew Anka
May 2024
El Diablo Australiano and The New Narcissus Must Die 2023
Arnhem land May 2022
Andrew was lucky to be taken out hunting with two of the local Gapuwiyak boys. One was a white plumber from Cairns, Queensland. A small fellow who worked remotely and loved the lifestyle. The other was a tall thin Yolngu in his early twenties, and he took Andrew into his country of river flats and rocky outcrops filled with caves and millennia of habitation.
It is illegal to hunt traditional lands without a permit and he is fortunate to be one of the few white men to be granted one, and he was more than happy to try and gather meat to be shared back in town. The bush tracks, though rough in parts, were accessible. It was early in the dry season and most of the bog holes were void of mud and it was a relatively easy four-wheel-driving. The country was open bush and trees with good visibility while they scanned for wildlife.
Andrew saw the big bugger first. Though he could not tell its real size from a distance of around three hundred metres. A solid black shadow of a bull with his head down and pawing at the ground. He called out ‘buffalo!’ and the driver, the plumber, slowly pulled the Ute up in a small cloud of dust.
Buffalo are easily spooked, so he exited the back seat quietly and loaded his rifle as he crossed the road and stalked into the bush - only three rounds in his 30-30 Marlin lever action would be more than enough to take down any medium to large sized game.
Not this one! As Andrew approached him, getting close at eighty metres and taking aim, the bull lifted his head and looked him square in the eyes. The buffalo was huge. His shoulders were set like the blade of a black bulldozer and his formidable horns were wider than Andrew could outstretch his arms, and he knew he could not take the shot. As capable as a 30-30 is, it was no match for this monster, and if he did shoot it would probably only piss it off and it would charge, so Andrew lowered his rifle and began to back away. After he had taken a few steps he heard a call “Kangaroo!” The Yolngu shouted as he got out of the Ute and slammed the door, causing the bull to turn and bolt into the safety of the thick scrub, and the mob of kangaroos bounding into the hills.
Andrew is never going to forget that encounter. He said he had the sense enough to know when not to take a shot, and somehow it made him reassess how he delt with some parts of his life - like he was looking In a mirror. He painted the Greenwater series while working on his previous exhibition - The Life and Death of Dawn at the Gates of Hell - the story of the tragic death of his sister and being raised in a house of violence. And painting Greenwater helped him stay sane while confronting a tormented past and overcome his PTSD.
El Diablo Australiano - oil on canvass 2023 100cm x 100cm
Green Water; oil on canvass. 300cm x 195cm
The Boxing Lesson 2023
The Everywoman 2023
Pretty Little promises 2023
The Birth and Death of Dawn at the Gates of Hell
180cm x 180cm x 3 Panels (Triptych)
Happy Anniversary
The Gates of Hell
Le Furioso Mano
(the angry hand)
Another One Last Time - oil on canvass 200cm by 140cm 2022
Detail from study - king of the Koolatong oil on canvass for the Greenwater series from the private collection of Simon Ryle, Cairns.
Diablo takes his willing bride - study - oil on canvass 75cm x 92cm 2012.
Diablo Takes His Willing Bride (2021) oil on canvass 180cm x 140cm. From the private collection of Simon Ryle, Cairns.
Diablo Takes His Willing bride is a theme that Andrew has been working on for a decade and explores the idea of assimilation of women into a toxic, patriarchal environment.
The Primitive of the He the I and Thee and the Resurrection of Faith in the garden of Magic and Apples. oil on cavass 180cm x 120cm. 2003
This was a milestone work for Andrew, and despite being offered a considerable amount of money for it on several occasions he will never part with it. It contains a lot of personal symbolism and was painted at a time of great change for he and Jo - they had not long been married and made a move from Wangaratta in north east Victoria to Melbourne for the opportunities that a large city offers.
Laburnum Locals oil on canvass 156cm x 56cm 2021
With their twentieth wedding anniversary approaching and wanting to update some of the art around their home, Andrew asked Jo if she had a request for a painting and the answer was kookaburras. These two are local to Blackburn and Laburnum east of the Melbourne CBD - an area renowned for being well painted and documented by some of Australia’s best artists, and is now Andrew’s home. What makes the kookaburras just a little different is that he gave them human eyes.
Ned Takes a Screamer - oil on canvass, 76cm x 96cm 2012 collection of the artist
Punch Boy - oil on canvass - destroyed by storm damage. Not a very good memory of a childhood boxing lesson.
Self Portrait 1999 -oil on canvas - destroyed by storm damage. (though the devil head survived!)
Electric Jesus (with detail little pig) oil on canvass. 90cm x 200cm 2021. from the collection of Corey Anka
Beep Beep - oil on canvass 120cm x 80cm 2001.
This work was therapy after having his right foot bent and smashed when a little old lady in a blue Barina pulled out in front of him at a round about. If he had been in a car, no problem, on a motor bike - not so good. collection of the artist
The Three Amigos. Oil on Canvass 152cm x 102cm 2021
The Boys from the Bush. Oil on Canvass 152cm x 102cm 2021
I am Not a Robot. Oil on Canvass 180cm x 120cm 2021
Romancing the Madonna. Oil on canvass 180cm x 120cm 2021
The Pathological Misogynist. Oil on Canvass 100cm x 100cm - Not for sale but prints are available.
The Ghost of Pablo Says Hello. Oil on canvass 100cm x 100cm.
Candy Land (fun time!) oil on canvass. 182cm x121cm 2022.
He, She, Them, They, We, in no particular order. oil on canvass 180cm x 140cm 2022
The Misogynist’s Misogynist
Oil on canvass 60cm x 60cm 2021
This work is part of an ongoing series that will have its own web page one day - The Pathological Misogynist - a subject that he expects he will be painting until the day he dies. Jo says that she hopes he doesn’t have to.