Doongal Aboriginal Art
Stories from the Dreamtime - Specialising in Aboriginal Rainforest Art

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Walala Tjapaltjarri

In late 1984, Walala Tjapaltjarri and several other members of the Pintupi tribe walked out of the remote wilderness of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia and made contact for the first time with European society. Described as "The Lost Tribe" he and his family created international headlines. Until that day in 1984, Walala and his family lived the traditional and nomadic life of a hunter-gatherer society. Their intimate knowledge of the land, its flora and fauna and waterholes allowed them to survive, as their ancestors had for thousands of years. It is this sacred landscape with its significant site that Walala so strikingly describes in his paintings. His style is strongly gestural and boldly graphic, one that is generally highlighted by a series of rectangles set against a monochrome background.

He paints the Tingari Cycle (a series of sacred and secret mythological song cycles), which are associated with the artists many dreamng sites - they are Wilkinkarra, Marua, Tarrku, Njami and Yarruruangu, to name a few. These dreamings are the locations of significant rockholes, sandhills, sacred mountains and water soakages in the Gibson Desert. Walala Tjapaltjarri was first introduced to painting by his brother Walimpirrnga also a painter of international acclaim. While Walala’s first paintings were a classical Tingari style usually reserved for body painting, ground painting and the decoration of traditional artefacts, within a couple of months of painting he evolved his own innovative style of work.

At a recent solo show by Walala in London gallery, the producers of Robert Hughes series Beyond The Fatal Shore, an Oxford Television production for the BBC, PBS & ABC on Australia lifestyle and culture, became intrigued by the artist and had him in mind when developing the series episode on Indigenous issues.

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Original Authentic Aboriginal Artwork
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Profile included. 
Size: 600mm x 600mm
Code: WT3955
(GDC)

$1 400.00
inc. GST in Australia

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Original Authentic Aboriginal Artwork
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Profile included. 
Size: 600mm x 600mm
Code: WT3956
(GDC)

$1 400.00
inc. GST in Australia

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Original Authentic Aboriginal Artwork
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Profile included. 
Size: 1500mm x 1500mm
Code: WT230
(GDC)



Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Tingari (Men's Business) - Walala Tjapaltjarri

Original Authentic Aboriginal Artwork
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Profile included. 
Size: 1250mm x 550mm
Code: WT551 
(GDC)



Selected Exhibitions: 1997 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin; 1998, 2000 Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney; 1998, 2000 Vivienne Anderson Gallery, Melbourne; 1998, 1999. 2000 Fire-Works Gallery, Brisbane; 1998 Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, Perth; 1998 15th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin; 1999 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA; 1999, 2001 Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK; 1999 Alliance Francaise de Canberra; 2000 17th National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Canberra; 2002 Aboriginal Galleries of Australia, Melbourne; 2003 Chapel off Chapel Gallery (Waityawanu Artists), Melbourne.

Selected Collections: Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney; Flinders University, Adelaide; AMP Investments Australia, Sydney; Hasting Funds Management, Melbourne; Axiom Funds Managements, Sydney; Artbank; El Paso Energy International Co, Houston, USA; Kaplan & Levi Collection, Seattle, USA; The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA.

Source Includes: Aboriginal Artists, dictionary of biographies by Janusz B. Kreczmanski and Margo Birnberg (This illustrated dictionary of 446 pages showing many photographs of artists and paintings is available from Doongal).