2024 | Tjukurrpa Kanyila (Keep the culture and law strong)
In association with Papunya Tjupi Arts, Papunya, Northern Territory.
15 May – 8 June, 2024
Dennis Nelson Tjakamarra, Watson Corby Tjungurrayi and Carbiene Mcdonald Tjangala all come from strong artistic lineages. This is not uncommon in Papunya, where 53 years ago the Western Desert painting movement began. One of the founding members of the resulting Papunya Tula Artists was renowned artist Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula - Dennis Nelson’s father, and Watson Corby’s grandfather. Dennis and Watson both grew up watching their various family members paint and have each been painting since the 1990s.
Carbiene McDonald Tjangala is the grandson of Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, also a founding member of Papunya Tula Artists, and son in law of Martha McDonald, a senior and renowned Papunya Tjupi artist. Carbiene however didn’t pick up a paintbrush himself until 2018. A year later he won the prestigious Hadley’s Landscape Prize.
All three men have in common an unwavering dedication to their work. While younger men float in and out of the men’s studio, Dennis, Watson and Carbiene can be found in the men’s studio most days. Dennis and Watson are regularly elected as board members, and all three are amongst the most senior male painters in Papunya. All three men have crafted their own unique style. Dennis’s complex layered dotting, Watson’s fine lines, and Carbiene’s luminescent squares. All these works play with our perception, in their refined techniques and sophisticated use of colour gradation.
- Paloma Pizarro, Papunya Tjupi Manager