Papunya Tula
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Motel, 2020 archival inkjet print 100 x 93 cm edition of 8 + 1AP $1,900 unframed PAPUNYA TULA ARTISTS 50 years of Papunya Tula 18 June - 17 July 2021 at Michael Reid Berlin The Papunya Tula Art Movement began in 1971 when a school teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, encouraged some of the men to paint a mural on the local school. The murals sparked off tremendous interest in the community of Papunya in the Northern Territory and soon many men started painting, with women artists carving out their own space in subsequent decades. In 1972 the artists successfully established their own company which is entirely owned and directed by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert. The company derives its name from Papunya, a settlement 240km north-west of Alice Springs, with two art centres in Kintore and Kiwirrkura. “Before the early 1970s, Aboriginal artists had never painted their stories with acrylic on canvas using a traditional lexicon of signs and symbols. That groundbreaking innovation, engineered by Geoff Bardon, translated one of the world’s oldest living artforms into an utterly contemporary movement.” -John McDonald b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri (1957-2017) Untitled, 2012 acrylic on linen 107 × 91 cm Community stock number: 1210021 $4,800 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri was born in 1957 and is the son of famed Papunya Tula artist, Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi and Ningura Napurrula, and is also closely related to artist Willy Tjungurrayi. His family first visited Papunya in 1962 when Morris was a young boy, and then returned to his Pintupi homelands. The next year his family was part of a large group of Pintupi people who walked the hundreds of kilometres back to Papunya where they settled and stayed. Morris eventually moved to Kintore with his wife Helen. Having learned and now inherited custodianship of Dreaming stories from b y Ghis E father,R W Y predominantlyN D A V I E theS Tingari Dreaming Cycle and began painting in 1998, immediately after his Fathers death, due to the vivid dreams he had about his now custodial responsibilities. This painting depicts designs associated with the Untari (lizard) Dreaming at Piruwatjarra, a soakage water site west of Kaakuratintja (Lake Macdonald). b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S George Tjungurrayi Untitled (Kirrimalunya claypan), 2005 acrylic on linen 153 x 122 cm Cat. no GT0508007 $25,000 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists, NT George Tjungarrayi was born in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia and was a young man when the Papunya Tula movement was beginning. His ‘uncle’, Charlie Tarawa Tjungarrayi, was one of the original senior men to paint school murals with Geoffrey Bardon, which is considered the catalyst of the Papunya Tula art movement. George’s works are often interpreted as reflections of the desert landscape, the lines representing ripples in the sand cast by the wind. b y G E RThe W concentricY N D A Vcircles I E S or squares however are a central element of Pintupi paintings symbolising a place or locus. The paintings depict stories of travel across Country. In 1997 George had his first solo exhibition in Sydney and has since exhibited globally. His work is held in many significant collections across the globe and in 2018 he participated in the Biennale of Sydney. b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Nanyuma Napangati (born c. 1944) Untitled, 2019 acrylic on linen 107 x 91 cm Community stock number: NN1903110 $5200 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT This painting depicts designs associated with women’s ceremonies at the rockhole and soakage water site of Ngaminya, just to the south-west of the Kiwirrkura Community in Western Australia. During ancestral times a large group of women gathered at the site to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. While in the area the women also gathered the edible berries known as kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the small shrub Solanum centrale. These berries can be eaten straight from the bush but are b y G E R sometimesW Y N D Aground V I E intoS a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. Upon completion of the ceremonies at Ngaminya the women continued their travels east to Wirrulnga and then on to Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). The rocky outcrops at Ngaminya are said to have been formed from huge mounds of these berries. b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Eileen Napaltjarri (born c. 1956) Untitled, 2020 acrylic on linen 122 × 91 cm Community stock number: EN2007040 $5,200 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT This painting depicts designs associated with the rockhole and soakage water site of Tjiturrulpa, situated in rocky hills west of the Kintore Community. During mythological times a group of men and women travelled east from this site toward the rockhole site of Illpilli. Along the way they gathered material for the production of various tools used in everyday life. The lines in the painting depict the lengths of wood that are yet to be fashioned into a variety of tools including kulata (spears), wana (nulla nullas), kiritji (shield) and kali (boomerang). While at Tjiturrulpa the group also gathered a variety of bush food including pitjara or desert yam, the edible tuber of the shrub Ipomoea costata, pura or bush tomato from the shrub Solanum chippendalei, and kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the small shrub Solanum centrale. b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Kanya Tjapangati (1951-2006) Untitled, 2002 acrylic on linen 153 × 122 cm Community stock number: 212169 $10,000 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT This painting depicts designs associated with Yaltintja, a soakage water site north-west of Jupiter Well in Western Australia. In mythological times a group of Tingari Men camped at this site before travelling to Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) Since events associated with the Tingari Cycle are of a secret nature, no further detail was given. Generally, the Tingari are a group of mythical characters of the Dream- ing who travelled over vast stretches of the country, performing rituals and creating and shaping particular sites. The Tingari Men were usually followed by Tingari Women and accompanied by novices and their travels and adventures are enshrined in a number of song cycles. These mythologies form part of the teachings of the post initiatory b y G E R W Y N D A V youthsI E S today as well as providing explanations for contemporary customs. Kanya Tjapangati was born at the site of Pamatjatunya, which is west of the Jupiter Well area in Western Australia, circa 1951. Kanya commenced painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1981 and in 1999 contributed to the Kiwirrkura mens’ painting as part of the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. His works are represented in many prestigious collections, including the National Gallery of Australia. b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula (born c.1938 – 2001) Untitled, 1997 acrylic on linen 153 × 122 cm Community stock number: 9710066 $14,000 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT This painting depicts designs associated with the Two Travelling Women at the rockhole site of Munni Munni, south-east of the Kintore community. The women later journeyed north to Kintore and then north-west to Initi and Pinari. These two women travelled over vast areas of the west- ern desert, stopping at many sites along the way. They sang the songs and performed the dances associated with the places they visited. Turkey Tolson was born near Haasts Bluff in the Northern Territory. After his initiation into manhood, his family moved to Papunya, where he lived during the early years of the painting movement. He joined Papunya b y G E R WTula Y N artists D A Vas Ione E S of its youngest members, painting his earliest artworks for Geoff Bardon in 1972. During his early period, Turkey Tolson was one of the most innovative and figurative artists of the Papunya Tula movement. In the 1980s, he travelled to Paris with Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri to create a sand painting as part of the Peintres Aborigines d’Australie exhibition. He was elected Chairman of Papunya Tula in 1985 and held this role until 1995. Pirrmangka Napanangka (c.1945 - 2001) Untitled, 2001 Acrylic on linen 122 x 122 cm cat. no. PN0101099 $11,000 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, NT b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S George Tjampu Tjapaltjarri (born c.1945 - 2005) Untitled, 2002 acrylic on linen 153 × 122 cm Community stock number: 210054 $7,200 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT b y G BornE R Wat YWalla N DWalla A V rockhole I E S (Pollock Hills) near Kiwirrkura in Western Australia circa 1945, George (Tjampu) Tjapaltjarri began painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1983. The stories he painted relate to Tingari travels in his homeland. This painting depicts designs associated with the soakage water site of Tjangimanta, east of the Kiwirrkura Community in Western Australia. b y G E R W Y N D A V I E S Willy Bennett Tjapanangka (born c.1930) Untitled, 2002 acrylic on linen 122 × 91 cm Community stock number: 210055 $2,500 Provenance: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Limited, NT This painting depicts designs associated with the site of Piniramu, to the south of Jupiter Well in Western Australia.