TINGARI AT KARRKURRITINYTJA (LAKE MACDONALD), 2005
George Ward Tjungurrayi
synthetic polymer paint on linen
183.0 x 243.0 cm
inscribed verso: artist's name, size, Papunya Tula Artists cat. GW0506263
Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
John Gordon Gallery, Coffs Harbour
Private collection, New South Wales
Australian Aboriginal Art 2006—2007, John Gordon Gallery, Coffs Harbour, cat 9, p. 31 (illus.)
A highly respected artist, in 2004 George Ward Tjungurrayi received the prestigious Wynne prize for landscape painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He is the second Indigenous art to be awarded the prize. Born in the desert in Western Australia, he is the half brother of Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi and Willy Tjungurrayi. Relocated with his family to the Papunya settlement by the Northern Territory Welfare Branch in the 1960s, Ward worked as a butcher and fencer. Moving in the 1980s to Kiwirrkura, deep in Pintupi territory, stirred him to begin painting. His first exhibition was in 1990 and has since been shown in group and solo shows in Australia and around the world.
This arresting work is a fine example of the artist 's multi layered compositions. Depicting the site of Karrkurritinytja (Lake MacDonald), the painting tells of the travels of the mythological ancestors known as the Tingari, who moved across the landscape performing rituals and creating particular sites.