2024 | Janangoo Butcher Cherel

Janangoo Butcher Cherel
11 - 21 September 2024

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Collection of 11 artworks by Janangoo Butcher Cherel (c.1920 – 2009) presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art gallery.

2024 | Timothy Cook and Kaye Brown: Tiwi Artists

Timothy Cook, Jilamara Arts
7 August - 7 September 2024

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Presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art in association with Jilamara Arts & Crafts, Melville Island, NT.

2024 | Belonging to the River

Mangkaja Arts
17 July - 3 August 2024

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Presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art in association  with Mangkaja Arts, Fitzroy Crossing, WA.

Pinapinanta arnajurnu pulkka pulkka-ka - Thinking back to the Old People

Joseph Jungarrayi Williams
11 June - 13 July 2024

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A solo show of Joseph Jungarrayi Williams presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art gallery in association with Tennant Creek Brio.

           

“These stories and places were shown to me by my Old People and I believe my art lets me share these stories. It’s the storytelling that was passed down to me by my Elders and it’s important that we keep these stories in our mind so we don’t ever forget our Old People and forget what they told us and all the stories that were passed down for generations. Because I am not the only one who has these stories, the stories are for all who are connected and for our future generations to hold on to. We don’t have to speak our mind with out mouth, we can speak it through our mind with a paintbrush.” – Joseph Jungarrayi Williams

2024 | Tjukurrpa Kanyila (Keep the culture and law strong)

Papunya Tjupi Arts
15 May - 8 June 2024

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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

Ḻukunydja - Bountiful

Yirrkala
17 April - 11 May 2024

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A solo exhibition of Yalmakany Marawili presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art in association with Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, NT.

"Look! How beautiful is the country itself which was given by our old people! And now we are living in their footsteps. Living how they taught us. To see the beauty of the land that we are living in. Look at how rich is the land, which is full of everything! It is bountiful, rich and beautiful.

My paintings are because of my mother, the old lady. She did a lot of paintings of food plants, fruits and medicines available to us Yolŋu. How the old people survived and fed themselves from the land. The old people were so strong and healthy and lived happily for a long time. This is why I have jumped into her footsteps to follow her path. I am building on her work because of all she taught me. Some of the young people in my family are knowledgeable about these plants because we are always teaching them.

I have painted some of the tubers that she painted like Ganguri, Buwakul, Ganay, Yukuwa, Rinytjaŋu, Bundjuŋu, and also all the fruits. But mainly I am describing plants that she had not shown yet by the time she passed away.

We use these medicines ourselves. We use Murrtjumun for boils, Nambara for coughs, Butjiriŋaniŋ for healthy skin and body, Borukpili for flu, Luŋiny for eye soreness and Munydjutj for toothache. All of the tubers and fruits I have painted we still eat now. When we go into the rainforest to dig for tubers we always start by eating the ripe fruit first.

The background pattern behind the plants I have painted is just the breeze blowing through the trees and cooling us down.

It makes me emotional thinking that my mother would be proud to see her mission continued. My previous jobs have been in art, education and land management and it feels like they all combine to help me pursue this vision of keeping useful plant knowledge alive."

- Transcript of recording Yalmakany 27.3.24

2024 | big Mob birds - Nyangulya Katie Nalgood

Spinifex Hill Studio
20 March - 13 April 2024

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Presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art in association with Spinifex Hill Studio, South Hedland, WA

23 March – 13 April 2024

"Nyangulya Katie Nalgood has a strong affinity with birds, the diverse feathered creatures filling her personal history as well as cultural life. They are as much a part of her Country as she is, and their songs are the sound memories of her home. Nyangulya started out painting only the birds native to her country in Western Australia's Pilbara region, and collaborated with family members to help her sketch out their forms. Her technical skill has since become more refined, and she now works independently. Her imagination has also expanded, and she looks to birds from across Australia finding inspiration in their different colours, forms, and personalities."
- Spinifex Hill Studio

2024 | New Barkcloths of the Ömie Women

Ömie Artists
15 February - 16 March 2024

New Barkcloths of the Ömie Women

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Aboriginal & Pacific Art, in association with Ömie Artists, presents an exhibition of exquisite new paintings on nioge (barkcloth) by three remarkable Ömie women artists from the remote mountain rainforests of Papua New Guinea.

 

The show features an exceptional body of work by Diona Jonevari (Suwarari), that augments her place as a highly accomplished painter. With ambitious vision, Diona weaves her intricate designs into commanding and graceful compositions.

 

Diona often paints alongside her sister-in-law, Dyna Jonevari (Ïka), whose work is of astonishing resolve and abounds with the captivating abstract symbolism for which the Ömie artists have come to be celebrated for. Dyna’s wealth of knowledge—transmitted from the strong, authentic lineage of her birth mother, Dapeni Jonevari (Mokokari)—can be seen through the raw power of her mark-making.

 

Artist Rosemon Hinana creates her art using the ancient appliqué technique known as sihoti'e taliobamë'e, where the barkcloth is first dyed with mud and then sewn into bold and striking compositions using locally harvested grass thread and a bat wing bone needle. Rosemon’s precious mud-dyed barkcloths poetically echo those created by the first female ancestor, Suja, as told in the sacred Ömie creation story.

 

These vibrant and dynamic contemporary works on nioge (barkcloth) resonate with the artists’ deep knowledge of the natural world and their profound wisdom of place. Together, whether through elaborate artistry or minimal restraint, these artists share with us the very essence and beauty of their culture.