Walala Tjapaltjarri
Walala was born circa 1960 at Marua to the east of Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. In late 1984, Walala and eight other relatives of the Pintupi Tribe walked out of the desert in Western Australia and made contact for the first time with Australian society. Described as 'The Lost Tribe', he and his family created international headlines. Until this time 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 sites that Walala so strikingly describes in his paintings.
Walala Tjapaltjarri was first introduced to painting by his brother Warlimpirrnga, also a painter of international acclaim. Walala's first paintings were in the classical Tingari style, a series of sacred and secret mythological songs which is associated with his Dreaming sites. In 1996 he developed his own style of work. He began abstracting the classical Pintupi designs, creating a highly graphic language to speak of his country and ceremonial sites. The rectangles so prominent in his paintings form both a physical and spiritual map.
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 artist's many dreaming sites - they are Wilkinkarra, Maruwa, Tarrku, Njami and Yarrawangu, to name a few. These Dreamings are the locations of significant rockholes, sandhills, sacred mountains and water soakages in the Gibson Desert.
In the recent years Walala has been painting, he has gained worldwide recognition, participating in several national and international solo and group exhibitions. His paintings are represented in private and public collections in Australia, Europe and the U.S.A.
Exhibitions
2008 'Blue: A Group Exhibition', Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
2008 'Anzac Artists', Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
2006 'Three Large Rooms', Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
2005 'SHOOSH! The History of the Campfire Group', Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
2005 'Smoke: Campfire Group and Other Commissioned Works', Despard Gallery, Hobart; Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane; Kimberley Art, Melbourne
2004 'Papunya: Painters of the Western Desert', Addison Road Gallery, Sydney
2004 'Spirit & Vision: Aboriginal Art', Sammlung Essl, Austria
2003 'Chapel off', Chapel Gallery, Melbourne
Collections
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Flinders University, Adelaide
AMP Investments Australia, Sydney
Baillieu Myer Collection, Melbourne
Hasting Funds Management, Melbourne
Axiom Funds Managements, Sydney
Artbank
Sammlung Essl Austria
El Paso Energy International Co, Houston, USA
Kaplan & Levi Collection, Seattle, USA
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
Gantner Myer Aboriginal Art Collection CNC International Corporation, Sydney
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Perth
Epic Energy Australia, Brisbane
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