George Tjungurrayi (Hairbrush)

Born:                   c. 1947

Region:        Jupiter Well – Western Australia, Walungurru (Kintore) – N.T.

Language:   Pintupi

Also known as George Tjungarrayi, George Jungarai.

George was born near Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia.  He commenced painting in about 1976 for Papunya Tula Artists.  His older brother, Willy Tjungurrayi, is also a very well-known Pintupi artist.  George Tjungurrayi often depicts in his paintings specific scared sites located in his ancestral country, which are associated with the Tingari Cycle of creation Dreaming stories. His ancestral country covers the sites around Wala Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya to the north-west of Kintore across the West Australian border.  In recent times his development of a distinctive style based on optical stripes has brought his work to prominence.  He was voted “the most collectable artist” by the magazine, Australian Art Collector.

 Selected exhibitions:

 1990, 1996 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs; 1992, 1994 Dreamtime Gallery, Broadbeach; 1993, 1995 Chapman Gallery, Canberra; 1994 Gallerie Australis, Adelaide; 1995 Groninger Museum, The Netherlands; 1995, 1996 Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs; 1995 Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory; 1996, 1998 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; 1997 Utopia Gallery, Sydney; 1997 “Dreampower” Adelaide; 2001 Pintupi, Alice Springs.

 Selected collections:

 National gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin; Holmes a Court Collections; Groninger Museum, The Netherlands; Artbank; University of Virginia, USA; Art Gallery of NSW, Aysnwy; Musee des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanien, Paris, France