Lucy Yukenbarri Napanangka
Gathering Bush Tomatoes at Tjintjula Soak
47 1/2" x 31 1/2"
121 cm" x 80 cm"
USD $10,000
About Lucy Yukenbarri Napanangka
Napanangka Lucy Yukenbarri was a respected senior custodian with a vast knowledge of the waterholes in the Great Sandy Desert. She began painting in 1989. Her early works followed standard Balgo methods of forming lines by means of rows of dotting and of outlining icons in a similar way. A quietly creative artist, she then moved to another technique using single color fields of dotting, later going on to a next step of painting her dots so closely together that they converged, creating dense masses of pigment on the surface of the canvas. This, together with her exploration of the visual possibilities of black icons for waterholes and soakwaters and of dark green and blue, gave her work a distinctive style, producing effects unique in desert Aboriginal art. As a result, her work became sought after in the marketplace.
Napanangka worked diligently at her boldly colored paintings using thick paint. She concentrated on painting the soaks and rock holes of her country, also the numerous types of bush food including Kantilli (bush raisins) and Pura (bush tomato). Lucy once laughed when she described herself as a “wild one” in her youth, running away from ceremonial business into the bush. There is also the story of the long walk in from the desert to the mission when she and her group would stop at the wells along the track to pump for water. Once at the mission, Napanangka helped make the bread and later began painting. She traveled extensively in connection with her painting (Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Kununurra), however she preferred to stay in Balgo with her family. Lucy held many ceremonial responsibilities in the keeping of traditional law. Napanangka passed away a few years ago but continues to be fondly remembered by her community in Balgo and by art lovers worldwide.
About Gathering Bush Tomatoes at Tjintjula Soak
Napananka painted the country where she lived a nomadic lifestyle with her family before moving to Balgo Mission. The painting depicts a central rockhole water source, Maparr, which is surrounded by stones (shown in orange). The main subject of the painting is a bush food called Pura. This is a bush tomato which ripens from yellow to red. We see patches of ripening Pura set in sand dune country.
The painting is enclosed and protected by in a beautiful Italian handmade frame.
Artist Bio
Born: c.1934
Died: 2004
Location: near Kiwirrkurra
Skin: Napanangka
Language Kukatja
Medium
Acrylic on canvas
Acrylic on linen
Themes
Goanna
Bush turkey
Bush2fruit
Camp sites
Waterholes
Kamitji country
Rocks
Tingari
Four women
Two women
Solo Exhibitions
2003 Always together painting, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
1999 Tjurrnu: Living Water, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Group Exhibitions
2003 Balgo Prints, Northern Editions, Darwin
2002 Balgo Hills, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2002 19th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of NT, Darwin
2002 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
2002 Balgo, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth
2002 Art from Balgo, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
2002 Balgo Hills: An artist’s survey, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2001 Short on Size, Short St. Gallery, Broome
2001 31st Alice Prize 2001 & Tammy Kingsley Memorial Award,
Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
2001 Opening exhibition, Thornquest Gallery , Gold Coast
2001 26th Annual Shell Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle
2001 All About Art, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Desert Mob, Arulen Centre, Alice Springs
2001 18th NATI Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of NT, Darwin
2001 Kutjungka, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2001 Desert Colour, My Country, Raintree Gallery, Darwin
2001 31st Alice Price 2001, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
2001 Recent Works by Artists from Balgo Hills, Ochre Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria
2001 Balgo Artists Return to Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal Art, Alcaston Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2001 Past Modern: an exhibition of Kimberley Landscapes,
Short Street Gallery in conjunction with Australia Square, Sydney
2000 Outlandish Dreams II, john Ruskin House, UK in association with
Arts Network International
2000 The Westside: Images in Ochre and Colour, Coo-ee II Exhibiting Gallery,
Yuwayi Art Precinct, World Square, Sydney 2000 Olympic Exhibition, Coo-ee
Exhibiting Gallery, Yuwayi Art Precinct, World Square, Sydney
2000 Desert Mob 2000, Araluen Art Gallery, Alice Springs
2000 Balgo Hills, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2000 17th National ATSI Art Awards, Museum Art Gallery of the Northern Territory,
Darwin
2000 Marking the Paper: limited edition prints on paper, Desart, Sydney
2000 Waltja – Family, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2000 Hot Press: Recent Prints from Central Australia and the Kimberley,
Beaver Galleries, Canberra
2000 Fifth National Indigenous Heritage Art Award & Art of Place,
Old Parliament House, Canberra
2000 Balgo Art, Gondwana Gallery, Alice Springs
2000 Balgo Hills Aboriginal Paintings, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2000 Ikuntji Artists/Warlayirti Artists, Desart Gallery, Sydney
2000 Aboriginal Art, Galerie Baehr, Leverkusen, Germany
2000 Aboriginal Art, Galerie Baehr, Dormagen, Germany
1999 Aboriginal Art, IHK, Würzburg, Germany
1999 Dreaming in Colour: Australian Aboriginal Art from Balgo,
University of Virginia, USA
1999 16th National ATSI Art Awards, Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory, Darwin
1999 East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra Arts Council, Kununurra
1999 30thAlice Prize, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1999 Mularrpa (True) Balgo, Framed, the Gallery, Darwin
1999 Miliynyin, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1999 Miliynyin, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
1998 Culture Store, Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1998 Painting Country, Pearlers Row Gallery, Broome
1998 Ngurrara: My Own Country, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1998 Galerie Baehr, Speyer, Germany
1998 Dreamings, Spazio Pitti Arte, Florence, Italy
1998 The Laverty Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
1998 Dreamings, Vlaams-Europeesch Conferentiecentrum, Brussels, Belgium
1998 Hilton Hotel Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1997 Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
1997 Daughters of the Dreaming: Sisters Together Strong,
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
1997 Big Balgos: Recent Paintings by Warlayirti Artists, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1997 New Paintings by Balgo Women, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Dreamings, Arnhem, The Netherlands
1997 Goteborgs Konstforening, Goteborg, Sweden
1997 Innenseite: Projektgruppe Stoffwechsel, Kassel & Göttingen, Germany
1997 Desert Country, Matso’s, Broome
1996 Songlines XV: Balgo Hills, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
1995 Landscape as Language: Australian Perspectives, Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane
1995 Two Men Dreaming: New Art from Balgo Hills,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1995 On the Trail of the Kingfisher: Aboriginal Art from Balgo Hills, Western Desert,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1995 Australia Now: Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Groninger Museum,
The Netherlands
1995 Place and Perception, Parliament House Art Collection,
Parliament House, Canberra
1994 Wirrimanu: Australian Aboriginal Art from Balgo Hills WA,
Canadian Book Launch, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada
1994 Wirrimanu: Australian Aboriginal Art from Balgo Hills WA, Channing Gallery,
Santa Fe, USA, in association with Adrian Newstead,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Paddington
1994 Wirrimanu: Aboriginal Art from Balgo , Framed, the Gallery, Darwin
1994 11th National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1994 The Creative Spirit, Chapman Gallery, Sydney
1994 Power of the Land: Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1993 Wirrimanu: the Art of Balgo Hills, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1993 Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1993 Aboriginal Art Exhibition: Kung Gubunga, Oasis Gallery, Broadbeach
1992 Warlayirti Artists’ Homelands, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1991 Paintings by Senior Women from the Western Desert,
Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
1990 Warlayirti Artists, Birukmarri Gallery, Fremantle
1989 Sixth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Collections
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Gallery of New South Wales
ArtBank, Sydney
Berndt Museum of Anthropology
University of Queensland
Campbelltown City Art Gallery
The Holmes a Court Collection
Laverty Collection
Kluge Ruhe Collection, USA
Parliament House Art Collection
Alice Springs Art Foundation, Araluen Centre
Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Ken Thompson and Pierre Marecaux Collection
Awards
1999 Waringarri Arts Award, East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra Arts Council
2000 Highly Commended, 31st Alice Prize, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
Bibliography
2001 Finnane, K, Alice Prize: ‘Immense diversity of humanity’,
Alice Springs News, Vol 8, issue 40, Nov 7, Pg3
1994 Johnson, V, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists,
Craftsman House, East Roseville, NSW