George Ward Tjungurrayi

Born around 1945 and from the Kiwirrkurra region (Gibson Desert, Western Australia), George Ward Tjungurrayi is one of the emblematic figures of contemporary Pintupi painting. He lived for a long time in Papunya, the origin of the contemporary Aboriginal art movement in the 1970s, when he began painting in 1976.

Georges Ward's paintings attest to the attachment of Kintore artists to their ancestral territories and have him recognized as the worthy heir of his brother Yala Yala Gibbs (one of the founding members of the Papunya artistic movement and senior guardian of sacred ceremonies Pintupi). Georges thus has significant rights to many sites around Wala Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya. George describes in his canvases the Tingari Cycles associated with his territory and celebrates the memory of the mythical "Tingari Men", founding ancestors of the Time of Creation who traveled the region, in order to establish sacred sites and institute ceremonial rites. practiced today by the Aborigines.

This artist has developed a unique style renowned for his minimalist approach: a system of geometric lines which form "imprints" reminiscent of the footsteps of ancestors and which create a rhythm of shapes and a rich and shimmering surface. His paintings bear witness to the advent of the Pintupi style, referred to as "cerebral" art. Sober and refined, deep and spiritual.

In 2004, George Ward Tjungurrayi received the famous Wynne Prize (NSW Art Gallery, Australia). Today he is in great demand in the art world: his works are exhibited in numerous public and private collections around the world.

Prizes received by this artist:

2004. Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia)

1994. Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia)

His works are present in many collections:

Art Gallery of South Australia, Canberra (Australia)

Artbank, Sydney (Australia)

Gabrielle Pizzi Collection, Melbourne (Australia)

Groninger Museum, Groningen (Netherlands)

Homes a Court Collection, Cowaramup (Australia)

Museum of Victoria, Melbourne (Australia)

Patrick Corrigan's Collection, Sydney (Australia)

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin (Australia)