Aboriginal Art Catalog

manta irititjangku ngura kutjupalakutu Ancient land New Territory

Aboriginal Art from the South Australian Desert

manta irititjangku: ngura kutjupalakutu Ancient land: New Territory May 31 – June 28, 2012 gallery nine5 24 Spring Street New York, NY Collaboration between:

Ninuku Arts South Australia Australia

gallerynine5 Soho, New York USA

Harvey Art Projects Sun Valley, Idaho USA

In collaboration with Ninuku Arts and Harvey Art Projects, gallery nine5 celebrates the unique work of the artists of the remote western APY Lands in the South Australian Desert. Nearly 30 bold and colorful paintings of contemporary Aboriginal Australian artwork are being exhibited for the first time in North America. Manta Irititjangku: Ngura Kutjupalakutu Ancient Land: New Territory, represents a bridge between one of the oldest continuous art movements in the world and new, unchartered territory. This is a rare opportunity for an international audience to learn more about the treasured Indigenous culture of remote Australia.

The atmosphere is ripe for this sort of exhibition in New York City. Since 1988 when the Asia Society first received acclaim for a major exhibition spotlighting indigenous Australian artists, attention has been escalating. Throughout 2009, fifty works from the John Wilkerson collection toured the United States. Organized by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, the exhibition Icons of the Desert: Early Aboriginal Paintings from Papunya, was notably mounted at UCLA’s Fowler Museum and New York University’s Grey Art Gallery. In Los Angeles, it was coupled with a show of Western Desert art drawn from the Kelton Foundation, which houses more than 1,300 aboriginal paintings of Los Angeles collector Richard Kelton. In 2009 the Metropolitan Museum of Art curated its first show of Contemporary Aboriginal art. Though it was displayed in the small space of a hallway, the show signaled that Contemporary Aboriginal art had been accepted into the mainstream.

The growing popularity of Aboriginal Art marks a turning point in Aboriginal and Western relations. Preserving an ancestral tradition of 30,000 years, indigenous art was comprised of natural media such as leaves wood, rock and sand. Only in the last 40 years has painting on canvas been incorporated into popular practice. The outstanding group of paintings that will be exhibited is the largest and most impressive that the Ninuku Arts artists have ever produced. To the Western eye, the pieces are similar in aesthetic to Abstract Expressionism. The work is simultaneously innovative, but inherently related to tradition. Though the artists use contemporary materials like canvas and acrylic in their creations, the abstractions rely on stories passed down through generations and draw inspiration from the vibrant colors of the Australian landscape. The works display the beliefs and practices of the Dreaming or Tjukurrpa, the ancestral story of the land from which Indigenous people draw physical and spiritual strength.

The members of the Ninuku Arts Center hail from the Pipalyatjara and Kalka communities, among the most secluded regions in the South Australian Desert. For the past few years the APY Lands Art Centers have been attracting attention and Australian collectors are directing their interests towards this district of the country. The exhibit features prominent artists in the movement, as well as emerging figures. gallery nine5 is proud to welcome the Ninuku Arts artists, and to open doors to contemporary Aboriginal artwork to New York City art collectors, and the international community at large.

Portrait by Stephen Oxenbury

Sandy Brumby Wapilka Acrylic on Belgian linen 41 3/4 x 24 in | 106.4 x 61 cm

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Sandy Brumby Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 47 1/2 x 36 in | 121 x 91.5 cm

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Sandy Brumby Victory Downs Acrylic on Belgian linen 66 1/4 x 60 in | 168.5 x 152.5 cm

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Sandy Brumby Kulitja Acrylic on Belgian linen 65 1/2 x 71 3/4 in | 166.5 x 182.8 cm

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Sandy Brumby Victory Downs Acrylic on Belgian linen 36 x 24 in | 91.7 x 61 cm

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Sandy Brumby Victory Downs Acrylic on Belgian linen 48 x 42 1/4 in | 122 x 107 cm

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Portrait by Bronwyn Taylor

Tjulkiwa Atira Atira Arulya Acrylic on Belgian linen 71 3/4 x 66 in | 182.2 x 167.3 cm

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Tjulkiwa Atira Atira Arulya Acrylic on Belgian linen 47 1/2 x 36 in | 121 x 91 cm

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Portrait by Stephen Oxenbury

Harry Tjutjuna Mututa Tjukurpa Acrylic on Belgian linen 48 x 36 1/4 in | 122 x 92 cm

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Harry Tjutjuna Mututa Tjukurpa Acrylic on Belgian linen 65 1/2 x 71 3/4 in | 166.5 x 182.5 cm

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Harry Tjutjuna Wati Nyiru munu Wati Wanka Acrylic on Belgian linen 71 1/2 x 72 in | 181.5 x 183 cm

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Harry Tjutjuna Kungka Tjuta Acrylic on Belgian linen 36 x 24 in | 91.3 x 60.8 cm

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Harry Tjutjuna Mututa Acrylic on Belgian linen 47 1/2 x 47 1/2 in | 121.5 x 121.5 cm

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Portrait by Stephen Oxenbury

Jimmy Donegan Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 72 x 60 in | 183 x 152.5 cm

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Jimmy Donegan Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 48 x 35 1/2 in | 122 x 90 cm

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Jimmy Donegan Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 36 x 23 3/4 in | 91.2 x 60.2 cm

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Portrait by Paul Exline Photography

Samuel Miller Ngayuku Ngura Acrylic on Belgian linen 72 x 71 1/2 in | 183 x 182 cm

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Samuel Miller Ngayuku Ngura Acrylic on Belgian linen 36 x 24 in | 91.2 x 60.9 cm

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Portrait by Stephen Oxenbury

Puntjina Monica Watson Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 72 x 60 1/4 in | 183 x 153 cm

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Puntjina Monica Watson Wirku Wirku Acrylic on Belgian linen 34 3/4 x 43 1/2 in | 88.2 x 110.5 cm

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Puntjina Monica Watson Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 35 3/4 x 24 1/4 in | 91 x 61.2 cm

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Portrait by Paul Exline Photography

Yangi Yangi Fox Wati Ngintaka Tjukurpa Acrylic on Belgian linen 72 x 43 1/4 in | 182.5 x 110 cm

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Portrait by Paul Exline Photography

Josephine Watjari Mick Mamungari Acrylic on Belgian linen 59 3/4 x 47 1/2 in | 152 x 121 cm

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Portrait by Paul Exline Photography

Molly Nampitjin Miller Mamungari Acrylic on Belgian linen 35 3/4 x 24 in | 91 x 61 cm

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Molly Nampitjin Miller Mamungari Acrylic on Belgian linen 43 x 72 in | 109 x 182.5 cm

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Portrait by Paul Exline Photography

Yaritji Connelly Malara Acrylic on Belgian linen 60 x 47 3/4 in | 152 x 121.5 cm

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Yaritji Connelly Malara Acrylic on Belgian linen 42 1/4 x 24 in | 107 x 60.8 cm

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Portrait by Claire Eltringham

Jennifer Mintaya Connelly Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sister Story) Acrylic on Belgian linen 72 x 59 1/2 in | 183 x 153 cm

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Sam Watson Acrylic on Belgian linen 47 1/2 x 36 in | 121 x 91 cm

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24 SPRING ST. NEW YORK, NY, 10012 212.965.9995 - info@gallerynine5.com MAY 2012