Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Zenadh Kes – Art of the Torres Strait
Artists Dennis Nona and Alick Tipoti from the small island of Badu in the Torres Strait, have contributed to the revitalisation of visual arts from their island home. Applying the traditional crafts of carving into new material forms of printmaking and sculpture, the artists have achieved worldwide acclaim for renditions of traditional and contemporary narratives that are unique to Zenadh Kes, the Torres Strait. Alick Tipoti says of the significance of cultural awareness – “Singing and dancing are forms of art that branch out from the centrepiece called language."...
Iwantja Artists
Iwantja artists from the eastern region of the APY Lands are re-making their land and their experiences in innovative ways through their art. The community has long been associated with their skills as printmakers, now their paintings on canvas are defining how they move forward as carriers of culture. The exhibition also hosts an iconic group of portraits by Vincent Namatjira, grandson of Albert Namatjira, which include images of Captain Cook and the artist’s grandfather Albert, along with other notable Australians. The exhibition is presented in association with Iwantja Arts and Crafts....
Landmarks and Law Grounds
Gallery 1
April 12, 2013 - May 22, 2013
Japingka Gallery presents an exhibition of Men’s paintings that focus on Landmarks of identity - places and sites that mark out identity in the homelands of the artists. The locations cover sites from the north-west Kimberley to the Western and Central Deserts and encompass works by more than 35 significant senior artists....
Landmarks and Law Grounds: Men of the Desert
Gallery 2
April 12, 2013 - May 22, 2013
A first for Japingka Gallery in Fremantle, and five years in the planning, Landmarks and Law Grounds: Men of the Desert is an overarching survey of some of the most important male artists of the indigenous contemporary art movement in the past 30 years....
The King Sisters – Sarrita King & Tarisse King
Gallery 1
15 February 2013 - 27 March 2013
A new series of works is on exhibition from the King sisters, Sarrita and Tarisse. Trained by their father, the late William King, these two young artists are defining their own identities. Apprenticed together and having worked on collaborations together in France and Australia, the artists are defining their own paths. While Sarrita moves towards a contemporary style with her culture as an accent to quite minimalist works, sister Tarisse chooses to keep firmly to the philosophies and culture taught by her father. The works represent a homage to the important first generation Aboriginal artists who have provided a strong path for following generations....
Fabrianne Peterson Nampitjinpa
Gallery 2
15 February 2013 - 27 March 2013
Fabrianne Peterson Nampitjinpa has created an innovative body of work using some of the techniques that followers of her art will recognise from her earlier Damper Seed series. Fabrianne combines the dynamic effects of improvised painting with a tightly worked dotting style that reflects Seed Dreaming stories that are tied to the land. Fabrianne Peterson’s paintings have appeared at Japingka Gallery over the past five years, in exhibitions including the Watiyawanu Artists (2009) and in group shows, Black and White exhibition (2011) and Little Gems (2012). ...
Desert Gold
Gallery 2
16 November 2012 - 22 December 2012
Desert Gold is an exhibition of small works from leading Central Desert artists who capture on canvas the burnished colours of the desert heartlands. Some have gone a step further and added metallic lustre to their paintings. This shimmering group of works is presented by artists including Gloria Petyarre, Abie Loy Kemarre, Dorothy Napangardi, Yinarupa Gibson Nangala, Thomas Tjapaltjarri and Anna Petyarre....
Alma Nungarrayi Granites – Night Sky
Gallery 1
16 November – 22 December, 2012
Alma Nungarrayi Granites depicts Warlpiri stories of the night sky from Jukurrpa related to Yanjirlpirri, the Star Dreaming. These Jukurrpa are part of the knowledge base of the Warlpiri people of the Tanami Desert. Alma Nungarrayi Granites is the daughter of Paddy Japaljarri Sims and Bessie Nakamarra Sims, two of the founding artists of Warlukurlangu Artists. Alma has painted stories which have been passed down from her father, and her father’s father, for generations, all relating to the artist’s traditional country. This exhibition includes works by other artists from Yuendumu community and is presented in association with Warlukurlangu Artists....
Jorna Newberry & Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri
Gallery 1
21 September 2012 - 31 October 2012
Pitjantjatjara artist Jorna Newberry is the niece of famous Western desert painter Tommy Watson, and she began her own painting career in the mid 1990s. Jorna has followed her uncle’s instructions to favour abstraction as a stylistic mode to ensure secrecy of important cultural matters. Pintupi artist Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri was born near Mt Liebig and lived most of her life at Kintore. Maisie often paints the sites for major Western Desert womens ceremonies. Both artists feature the Tjukurrpa stories they have inherited through her family lineage....
Ampilatwatja Artists
Gallery 2
21 September 2012 - 31 October 2012
Artists from Ampilatwatja community 320 km north east of Alice Springs have a distinctive approach to landscape, producing finely dotted images of Apmer, the traditional custodial lands of the artists. The country is vast, 17,000 km2 of land for which the custodians protect and nurture the land, recording the bush medicines and bushtucker found there, and mapping the country under their guardianship. Ampilatwatja is the cultural heartland of the Alywarr nation, and the paintings from twenty of the artists reflect their connection to and respect of their lands. Presented in association with the Artists of Ampilatwatja cultural group....
The Colourists: Kudditji Kngwarreye & Lorna Napurrula Fencer
Gallery 2
3 August - 12 September 2012
An exhibition of two of the great colourists of the Central Desert art movement, Kudditji Kngwarreye and the late Lorna Napurrula Fencer. These two distinctive Indigenous artists are known for their large dynamic paintings, made powerful and electric by the colour they meld into their work. Their creative output has helped expand the realm of traditional story-telling and painting as expressed by Central Desert artists. ...
Recent Works
Gallery 2
3 August - 12 September 2012
Recent Works from leading artists represented in the gallery, including Dorothy Napangardi, Yinarupa Gibson Nangala, Esther Giles Nampitjinpa, Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty, Abie Loy Kemarre and Maureen Hudson Nampitjinpa. The artists continue to produce outstanding work and this exhibition showcases recent paintings created with a finely tuned and subdued colour palette....
The Pilbara – Yinjaa-Barni Artists
Gallery 1
5 June - 18 July 2012
Yinjaa-Barni Artists are traditional owners from the Fortescue River region, and their paintings depict the remarkable country of the Pilbara in Western Australia's north-west. The contrasts of the harsh environment with the hidden gorges of cool water, the seeds and flowers bursting out after rain, are moments that belong to the great Creation stories of the Marrga....
Edward Blitner – Stories from my Grandfather
Gallery 2
5 June - 18 July 2012
Edward Blitner started painting with his grandfather. He says of this time, "My grandfather would be painting on bark and we kids would sit around him and watch him grind the ochres and mix the colours. After a while he would tell us the story for that particular painting and also teach us the songs and dance for that story. Closes July 18, 2012...
Sandover River Stories
Gallery 2
5 June - 18 July 2012
The Sandover River dissects the Utopia homelands and served as the main walking track for local Aboriginal people trekking to Alice Springs, before the Sandover Highway was constructed. This exhibition features major artworks from artists from the various outstations in this area including sisters Angelina and Kathleen Ngal, who are Aharlper artists; Father and Daughter Cowboy Loy and Genevieve Kemarr Loy and Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarray from Iylenty; and Ruby Morton from Rocket Range, known by the local people as Rainbow Country....
Mabel King – Paintings from the Estate
Gallery 1
5 June - 18 July 2012
Mabel King (1938- 2006) was one of the Ngarinyin elders whose life encompassed the great fifty year journey that saw the traditional people of the west Kimberley move as a group to ultimately settle at Mowanjum community. Her great knowledge of Ngarinyin stories and custom fed into her life as a painter, which she expressed in bold and naive works that tell the story of her culture. This exhibition represents the Estate paintings of the artist. The exhibition is presented in association with Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre, and will be attended by fellow law custodian Pansy Nulgitt....
Little Gems
Gallery 2
20 March - 24 April 2012
Featuring small scale works by a range of Indigenous artists from the Ngurratjuta and Warlukurlangu Art Centres, and others including a suite of religious works by Wayne Hills and Yirrkala bird carvings from Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre. Artists presented include Shorty Jangala Robertson, Janie Ward Nakamarra, Abie Loy Kemarre, Yinarupa Gibson Nangala and Emma Daniel. Hundreds of works under $500 by leading and emerging artists. ...
Namatjira Legacy
Gallery 2
February 10, 2012
The Western Aranda tradition of watercolour painting that famously began in 1934 with the meeting of Albert Namatjira and Rex Battarbee has left a rich legacy for future generations. The landscape paintings provided the first vision for a wider audience of the Aranda world and the dramatic locations around the Western MacDonnell Ranges. Namatjira taught his relatives and countrymen well, and a strong school of painting continues 74 years after the first successful exhibition of Albert’s paintings....
Heirs & Successors
Gallery 1
February 10, 2012
Heirs and Successors follows the lineage through the next generations of artists who are carrying on the work of the significant painters from the canon of the Central Desert Indigenous art movement. The exhibition includes successors of Walangkura Napanangka, Ningura Napurrula, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Jimmy Baker, Minnie Pwerle and Ngoia Pollard. This is an opportunity to assess the work that follows in the footsteps of some of the great artists of Central Australia. Closes March 14, 2012...
Sarrita King: Language of the Earth
Gallery 1
November 25, 2011 - December 22, 2011
The first Western Australia solo exhibition by Sarrita King, one of the significant group of young emerging artists who are presenting works that are Indigenous in content, innovative in technique and approach, and engaging in their scope and outlook. Sarrita structures her exhibition with four different series of works, titled Language of the Earth, Ancestors, Lightning, and Water. The artist will give a floor talk at 3pm on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th....
Kimberley Artists
Gallery 2
November 25, 2011 - December 22, 2011
This exhibition features works by four Kimberley elders - Rosie Uhl, Nada May, Rita Thomas and Elsie Thomas. The artists’ ages range from their fifties to their seventies, but the journey they make into the world of painting brings a vigour and freshness to these images of Country....
Spinifex Artists
Gallery 1
October 23, 2011 - November 16, 2011
Spinifex Artists present their most recent paintings, in a process that continues the journey of countrymen revisiting and reconnecting with traditional Pitjantjatjara lands. The paintings detail the pathways and the actions of Ancestors who created, travelled across and are contained within Spinifex lands. By documenting these sites, the relationships and stories provide the artists with a method of recording and passing on elements of culture that are crucial to sustaining the long-term future and health of the Spinifex People. This exhibition is presented in association with Spinifex Arts Project....
Mowanjum Artists – Paintings and Prints
Gallery 2
October 23, 2011 - November 16, 2011
Mowanjum Artists comprise the Worrorra, Wunumbul and Ngarinyin people of the north-west Kimberley, who are traditional owners and custodians of the Wandjina sites from this region. The paintings and prints in this exhibition represent the continuing tradition of cultural practice that links the people and the land through the Creation stories, expressed through the great painted rock art sites of the Kimberley. This exhibition is presented in association with Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre....
In Black and White
Gallery 1
August 26, 2011 - October 12, 2011
In Black and White is Japingka Gallery’s review exhibition of indigenous artists whose paintings are created predominantly in black and white. A wide ranging group of desert artists are participating, from iconic and highly collectable artists through to new and emerging artists. Many are best known for signature styles that they have developed through their black and white paintings. Participating artists include Dorothy Napangardi, Gloria Petyarre, Mijili Napanangka Gibson, Lilly Kelly Napangardi, Helen McCarthy Tjalmuty, Ningura Napurrula and Anna Price Petyarre....
Bidyadanga Community Artists
Gallery 2
August 26, 2011 - October 12, 2011
Donald Moko, Margaret Baragurra and Mervyn Numbagardi are the most senior of the artists working at the Bidyadanga Community Art Centre. Their work reflects their earlier lives in the desert, based on hunter-gatherer lifestyle and revolving around key waterholes on clan estates. Now the coastal community is focused on transferring the knowledge and culture of its elders through cooperation between generations at the art centre. This exhibition is presented in association with Bidyadanga Art Centre....
Alma Nungarrayi Granites – The Night Sky 2011
Gallery 1
July 8, 2011 - August 17, 2011
Alma Nungarrayi Granites depicts Warlpiri stories of the night sky from Jukurrpa related to Yanjirlpirri, the Star Dreaming. These Jukurrpa are part of the knowledge base of the Warlpiri people of the Tanami Desert. Alma Nungarrayi Granites is the daughter of Paddy Japaljarri Sims and Bessie Nakamarra Sims, two of the founding artists of Warlukurlangu Artists. Alma has painted stories which have been passed down from her father, and her father’s father, for generations, all relating to the artist’s traditional country. This exhibition includes works by other artists from Yuendumu community and is presented in association with Warlukurlangu Artists....
Tangentyere Artists
Gallery 2
July 8, 2011 - August 17, 2011
Tangentyere Artists represent paintings and stories from Indigenous artists of the Alice Springs Town Camps. The art centre provides art support and marketing to over 380 artists from 19 Alice Springs Town Camps. These camps are home to around 2,000 Indigenous people from the local area as well as many visitors from the remote communities of Central Australia. The Town Camp artists represent 20 different central Australian languages, and the stories they present in their paintings are a diverse and rewarding experience. This exhibition is presented in association with Tangentyere Artists....
Yinjaa-Barni – Pilbara Artworks
Gallery 1
May 20, 2011 - June 29, 2011
Yinjaa-Barni Artists continue to refine and re-define the nature of their art and the images of their homelands. Located in coastal Roebourne in Western Australia’s Pilbara district, the country here spreads beyond the Fortescue River in an otherwise arid region of breakaway hills....
Julalikari Artists
Gallery 2
May 20, 2011 - June 29, 2011
Tennant Creek artists Peggy Jones, Flora Holt, Lindy Brody and Susan Nelson make whimsical observations of their world in and around Tennant Creek along the Stuart Highway between Alice Springs and Darwin. In these paintings are images of country - bush medicine and bush tucker, birds and animals, soakages and ceremonies. Then there are images of the mission church, biblical stories, and images of modernity – family events with Toyotas and station wagons, road trains and the railway line. The artists are represented by Julalikari Arts Centre, operating as a regional hub for the Barkly region, a huge expanse of nearly 300,000 square km between the tropical Top End and the arid Red Centre in the Northern Territory....
Tjapaltjarri Brothers
Gallery 1
April 8, 2011 - May 11, 2011
Their ‘first contact’ story is extraordinary. A group of nine Pintupi people who had lived a traditional lifestyle near Lake Mackay in the Gibson Desert, dramatically made contact in 1984 with their relatives near Kiwirrkurra. The community quickly realised that the group were relatives who had been left behind in the desert twenty years earlier. The family group were four brothers, three sisters and two mothers. The boys were in their teens – one subsequently returned to the desert, and three have gone on to become well known artists - Warlimpirrnga, Walala, and Thomas Tjapaltjarri. This is their story....
Aurukun Artists
Gallery 2
April 8, 2011 - May 11, 2011
Aurukun artists from the north-west coast of Cape York Peninsula have developed a distinctive style of sculpture and painting. The works have emerged from items which were used solely for ritual ceremony, to become expressions of life and art as experienced by the clans of coastal northern Queensland. This exhibition of paintings features the work of four women artists - Akay Koo’oila, Janet Koongotema, Rebecca Wolmby and Jean Walmbeng. The exhibition is presented in association with Wik and Kugu Art Centre....
Jack Dale Mengenen
Gallery 1
February 18, 2011 - March 30, 2011
Senior Ngarinyin man Jack Dale Mengenen stands as a walking history of the great upheavals that shook the Kimberley during the twentieth century. Born sometime around 1920, Jack Dale has seen the frontier violence, the move to station life and the threat to traditional culture, all of which have marked Aboriginal lives during this time. ...
Katherine Marshall Nakamarra
Gallery 2
February 18, 2011 - March 30, 2011
Katherine Marshall Nakamarra, the daughter of highly-acclaimed Pintupi artist Walangkura Napanangka, has been painting since 1986. Her father, Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula, was also a painter, as were her mother’s sister, Pirrmangka Napanangka, and her grandmother, Inyuwa Nampitjinpa. Similarities can be seen between Katherine’s work and the bold style of other Papunya Tula artists, particularly that of her mother. This is especially evident in the way the paint is applied in thick, joined dots....