TJINTJINTJIN: Debra Nakamarra + Katherine Nakamarra

"I hope you enjoy the beauty of Debra and Katherine Nakamarra's paintings. But while you are immersed in their surface, it's also worth thinking of their deeper meaning, and the epic themes that are evoked. The language of the dot and the circle take us back in time to the epic human struggles on this continent, they reveal the human condition in all its rawness and beauty."
John Kean PhD, opening speech, Tjintjintjin

New paintings by Debra Nakamarra and Katherine Nakamarra featuring the rockhole and cave site of Tjintjintjin - an important site in the journeys of the ancestral creation figure, Kutungka Napanangka. This oustanding body of work marks the first exhibition on the Mornington Peninsula by the illustrious Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd. Established by the founding male artists of the community of Papunya in 1972, Papunya Tula has been of foundational significance in the development of modern Australian art. Ever evolving, the art of Papunya Tula Artists always inspires, as their work continues to achieve record breaking prices internationally.

Debra and Katherine's mother, Walangkura Napanangka was one of the first women painters to join the men's painting movement, having participated in the historic Minyma Tjukurrpa (women’s lore) Canvas Project at Kintore/Haasts Bluff in 1994. Walangkura Napanangka subsequently became one of Papunya Tula's most acclaimed artists. Debra, 60 and Katherine, 56 inherited the rights to depict their mother's stories of the ancestral figure Katungka. They also inherited the rights to the stories of the far western desert held by their late father, the well known, longtime Papunya painter Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula. Debra and Katherine Nakamarra have been significant and highly regarded members of Papunya Tula Artists for many years. In vibrant colour, rhythmic design and distinct iconography, this new body of work relates the ancestral creation figure Katungka and her journeys across vast tracts of the Western Desert and especially the rock hole and cave site Tjintjintjin.

OPENING EVENT WITH THE ARTISTS, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2pm

Opened by John Kean PhD - writer, curator and former Papunya Tula art advisor. John will introduce Debra and Katherine and will also be signing copies of his seminal book - Dot Circle and Frame: The Making of Papunya Tula Art. Book presentation/signing In partnership with

Antipodes Bookshop