Aboriginal art exhibitions are on display at Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery, 47 High Street, Fremantle - Mon-Fri 10am-5.00pm and Sat & Sun 12-5pm. There is no entrance fee to view the exhibitions.
Online art exhibition links are accessible below for those not able to attend the gallery. Advance viewing and purchasing of exhibition works is available to subscribers of the Japingka Newsletter.
Zenadh Kes – Art of the Torres Strait
31 May 2013 - 10 July 2013
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
31 May 2013 - 10 July 2013
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
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
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
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
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).
Alma Nungarrayi Granites – Night Sky
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.
Desert Gold
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.
Jorna Newberry & Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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
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
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
Mabel King – Paintings from the Estate
4 May - 6 June 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.
Sandover River Stories
4 May - 6 June 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.
Little Gems
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.
Heirs and Successors
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
Namatjira Legacy
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.
Sarrita King: Language of the Earth
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.