Artists

Walala Tjapaltjarri

Bio  /  CV

Dubbed the Pintupi Nine, The Lost Tribe or Last Nomads by international news outlets, Walala, his two brothers and three sisters lived a traditional, nomadic way of life in the Gibson Desert near Lake Mackay (WA/NT border) having no contact with non-Aboriginal people until 1984. After the death of the patriarch of the family a few years earlier, the group went in search of relatives on the outskirts of the Pintupi community of Kiwirrkurra.

Walala began his artistic career in 1991 in the classic Pintupi dot and circle style, and – like his brothers (also internationally renowned artists Warlimpirrnga and Thomas Tjapaltjarri) – he chose to depict men’s Tingari designs. These Tingari forms relate to men’s ceremonial ground and body painting.

Though his earlier work employed the tight dotting reminiscent of Papunya Tula artists (such as Yala Yala Gibbs, Willy & George Ward Tjungurrayi) he quickly developed his own distinctive approach to painting, abstracting and simplifying the Tingari designs with a minimalist use of colour and his unique style evolved as boldly graphic. He was celebrated with exhibitions across Australia and overseas.
Trips to Brisbane in 2001 and 2004 for drawing workshops further amplified this stylization. Ink works on paper from the period appear almost calligraphic. Whilst in Brisbane, Walala also began collaborating with Campfire Group Artists on sculpture projects. The subsequent sculpture series were mapped from Walala’s drawings and translated – via scans and laser-cutting technologies – into (limited edition) welded steel and timber forms.

In 2022 a reinvigoration of these sculpture projects sees the creation of new Tingari arrangements, sand cast in bronze with rich, earthy patinas. There are five new arrangements created in a limited edition of five.
Walala’s works are held in numerous private, corporate and public collections nationally and internationally.

From The artist and Fireworks gallery


Born: c 1960s Western Desert NT

Language: Pintupi

Country: Wilkinkarra

Region: Kiwirrkurra WA

EXHIBITIONS – SOLO (SELECTED)

2022 Walala Tjapaltjarri Tingari Arrangements, FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2019 Walala Tjapaltjarri Self-portrait, Fondation Opale, Lens, Switzerland

2005 Smoke: Campfire Group and Other Commissioned Works Despard Gallery Hobart FireWorks Gallery Brisbane Kimberley Art Melbourne

2004 New Sculpture Maunsell Wickes Gallery Sydney

2003 Tingari Japingka Gallery Perth

2002-4 Walala and Campfire Group FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2001 Sculptures from the Tingari Cycle FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

1999 Tingari Cycle FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

1998 Tingari – Men’s Business Coo-ee Gallery Sydney NSW

1998 Walala Tjapaltjarri Paintings Vivien Anderson Gallery Melbourne

1998 Tingari Cycle new works by Walala Tjapaltjarri FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

EXHIBITIONS – GROUP (SELECTED)

2021 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2020 Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart

2019 An Exhibition on TJAPALTJARRI Brothers from the Indigenous Lost Tribe, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery, Melbourne

2019 Defining Tradition | the colourists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2019 Defining Tradition: the first wave & its disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2019 Sculpture Projects, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2019 Pintupi Artists of the Western Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA

2018 Three Brothers, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2014 Intermission FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2011 Eclectica III: Red July FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2009 Sculpture + Works on Paper FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2008 Blue: a group exhibition FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2006 Three Large Rooms FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2000 17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin

2000 Songlines: Walala Tjapaltjarri & Dorothy Napangardi Rebecca Hossack Gallery London

2000 The Art of Place Exhibition Australian Heritage Commission National Tour

2000 Fifth National Indigenous Heritage Art Award Australian Heritage Commission Canberra

2000 Landmarks Exhibition Dar Festival Brisbane Powerhouse

2000 Walala Tjapatjarri and Dr George Tjapaltjarri Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery Sydney

2000 My Country – Journeys of our Ancestors’ Ancient Earth Indigenous Art Cairns

2000 Lines FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

1999 Recent Works by Walala Tjapaltjarri Rebecca Hossack Gallery London

199916th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin

1999 Painting the Desert Alliance Francaise de Canberra and the French Embassy Canberra

1999 Spirit Country The California Palace of the Legion of Honour San Francisco USA

1998 15th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin

1998 Tingari – My Dreaming Japingka Gallery Fremantle

1997 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin

COMMISSIONS

2007 Tingari Sculpture Private residence Brisbane

2003 Tingari Sculpture Crown Casino Melbourne

2002-5 Tingari Sculpture Private commissions Melbourne Sydney Brisbane

BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECTED

‘Nangara – The Australian Aboriginal Art Exhibition’ from the Ebes Collection

The Gallery of Dreamings Melbourne Victoria Australia 1996

‘Spirit Country’ The California Palace of the Legion of Honour San Francisco USA 1999 Jennifer Isaacs

‘Painting the Desert’ Alliance Francaise de Canberra and the French Embassy 1999

Maud Girard-Geslan and Luc Chailleu

‘Beyond the Fatal Shore ’ Producer Robert Hughes for Oxford TV BBC & ABC 2000

COLLECTIONS

AMP Investments Australia Sydney

Art Gallery of New South Wales  Sydney

Artbank, Sydney

Axiom Funds Management Sydney

CNC International Corporation Sydney

Corrigan Collection, Sydney

Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Perth

El Paso Energy International Co Houston Texas

Epic Energy Australia Brisbane

Flinders University Adelaide

Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Motiers, Switzerland

Ganter Myer Aboriginal Art Collection

Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne

Hastings Funds Management Melbourne

Kaplan & Levi Collection Seattle USA

Kelton Foundation Santa Monica

Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice

Private and public collections

Work