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.
All are welcome to join us for the free opening Friday night event at 6.30pm. There is a short talk about the exhibition and the artists may be present.
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.
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.
Kimberley Artists
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 Exhibition 2011
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.