Keepers of Place : New works from Papunya Tjupi

Presented by McCulloch & McCulloch in association with Papunya Tjupi Arts 
Inspirational paintings from the heartland of Aboriginal art
For 45 years, the name Papunya has been synonymous with contemporary Indigenous art. However for several decades after its 1970s inception, with the advent of the homelands movement and the exodus of a number of Papunya's founding artists back to their traditional lands, painting at Papunya itself was sporadic. In 2005 senior artists Long Jack Phillipus and Michael Jagamara Nelson asked Professor Vivien Johnson, long time Papunya scholar, to work with them to establish an Aboriginal-owned art centre at the community.
In 2006 Papunya Tjupi Arts, named after the important Honey Ant Hills creation site, was established. Predominant in this new school are works by women artists, many of whom are the relatives of some of the Western Desert's most famous artists.
Now nine years into their sustained painting practice, the work of Papunya Tjupi artists has reached a new level of finesse.
In their graphic imagery and lyrical overdotting, the paintings of Martha McDonald Napaltjarri reflect a similar quality to those of her famous father, Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi. Candy Nelson Nakamarra's intricate designs and striking colour sense are entirely her own, yet also pay homage to the early work of her father, the famed Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula whose Kalipinypa (Water Dreaming) site she paints. Younger generation artists Mary Robert Nakamarra and Charlotte Phillipus work dazzles in finely wrought fluid monochromes and intricate design. The pared down imagery of new works by Doris Bush and Tilau Nangala, the region's most senior cultural woman, show a particularly exciting new development in their use of pastel as well as paint to create works of striking graphic intensity, evocative of the ancient rock engravings of the Western Desert.
The 26 paintings of these and six other artists in Keepers of Place: new works from Papunya Tjupi speak of an inspirational story of artistic regeneration, reminiscent of the early days of Papunya painting itself and of a tradition both utterly contemporary and entirely ancient.

Opened by artist Isobel Major Nampitjinpa with exhibition curator Susan McCulloch.
Curators' floor talk: Saturday 28 May 2 pm