nyarapayi
Warmurrungu
Nyarapayi Giles “Where the emu spirits are released like a wind to take physical form again”.
- Nyarapayi Giles
COVER IMAGE: Warmurrungu 54” x 54” (137 x 137 cm) Acyrlic on Belgian linen Catalog #15-471 RIGHT: Nyarapayi Giles near Tjukurla, Western Australia
Nyarapayi Giles
Warmurrungu This long awaited US debut solo exhibit for Western Australian artist Nyarapayi Giles, highlights a selection of paintings depicting the artists sacred site ‘Warmurrungu’ near Karku, the artists’ birthplace. This is the country where the ancestral emus went digging amid the mesas and the ridges and the claypans, digging for ocher and where ocher has been collected for millenia for ceremonial use. It is this site and the associated Tjukurrpa that inspires Nyarapayi’s powerful and unique paintings. Nyarapayi’s country is thousands of square kilometres of Ngaanyatjarra lands of Western Australia, stretching from the Rawlinson and Petermann Ranges region (around 350 km west of Uluru) more than 300 km north to Kintore (Walungurru) and several hundred kilometres west into the Gibson Desert. With its blue hazed ranges filled with rock holes and caves and red sanded plains studded with desert oaks, it is a supremely beautiful and peaceful country. As a young woman, Nyarapayi travelled throughout this Westem Desert region with her mother and step-father, hunting, gathering bushtucker and camping in the traditional way of the Ngaanyatjarra people. Nyarapayi’s knowledge of the Inma (ceremonies) and Tjukurpa (dreaming stories) associated with the country of this region is extensive. Today her homeland community is Tjukurla, a tiny remote community established in 1970s as an outstation of Docker River. It’s arts centre Tjarlirli (named after sacred rock holes) is one of Australia’s smallest and most recently established arts centres, representing some 15 to 20 artists. The works in this exhibit explore Warmurrungu in an exquisite and unique expression of colour and movement. Paintings of concentric circles mimic the ochre-filled feathers of emus digging in pits for the richly hued pigments. When the emus shake their feathers, the dust billows off into the wind forming the ancestral emu spirits associated with the area.
BACKGROUND IMAGE: Warmurrungu (detail) Acrylic on canvas 58” x 70.5” (148 x 179 cm) Catalog #12-306
Variations of aqua, turquoise and mauve – boldly paired with bright reds, yellows and blacks, stippled over backgrounds merge with adjacent colors adding a softness to the tonal range of bright primaries. It is this combination of palette and marks that add a bold and commanding presence to her works. Although her medium is acrylic, the thickness with which she applies paint gives her work a quality and texture akin to that of ocher, reflective perhaps of the sacred ochers derived from her birthplace. With their swirling circles or loosely mapped heavily dotted squares, her canvases are disintinctive amongst painters of the region. Now in her early 80’s Nyarapayi Giles has gained recognition as a key artist in the contemporary indigenous arts world. Her works are collected by collectors and institutions around Australia and internationally, including The National Gallery of Victoria and the British Museum. Harvey Art Projects is proud to present this solo exhibit by one of Australia’s most dynamic painters. We gratefully acknowledge Tjarlirli Art Center and Nyarapayi Giles in mounting this very special USA exhibition.
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 47” x 35” (119.5 x 89.5 cm ) Catalog #14-608
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 47” x 35” (119.5 x 89.5 cm) Catalog #14-589
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 19” x 39” (50 x 101.5 cm) Catalog #15-616
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 47” x 35” (119.5 x 107 cm) Catalog #15-586
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 47” x 35” (119.5 x 89.5 cm) Catalog #13-020
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 54” x 54” (137 x 137 cm) Catalog #14-558
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 40” x 30” (101.5 x 75.5 cm) Catalog #12-237
On view 26 June- 3 August 2016 Sun Valley, USA 391 First Ave N Ketchum ID 83353 USA info@harveyartprojects.com Warmurrungu | Phone (208) 309-8676 Back cover: Nyarapayi Giles acrylic on linen Images courtesy Tjarlirli Art 40” x 48” Copyright 2016 Harvey Art Projects USA & Tjarlirli Art
(101.5 x 121 cm) Catalog #12-261
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 60” x 72” (152 x 172 cm) Catalog #14-608
Warmurrungu acrylic on linen 39” x 48” (102 x 122 cm) Catalog #15-143
on view until April 30th 2018 659 Sun Valley Road Ketchum ID 83353 USA info@harveyartprojects.com | Phone (208) 309-8676 Back cover: Nyarapayi Giles Images courtesy Tjarlirli Art Copyright 2018 Harvey Art Projects USA
NYARAPAYI GILES Warmurrungu (detail) acrylic on canvas 47” x 35” (119.5 x 89.5 cm) Catalog #14-589