REGION: JUPITER WELL, WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND

WALUNGURRY [KINTORE], NORTHERN TERRITORY

LANGUAGE: PINTUPI

B: 1947

George [Hairbrush] Tjungurrayi was born near Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. His homeland is claypan type country in which soakage water is used by the travelling men and the small flesh ‘mungilypa’ shrub that grows profusely in this region. He came in from the desert via Mount Doreen and Yuendumu.

In the mid 1970’s both George and his older brother Willy, also an established Pintupi artist, commenced their painting careers as apprentices for Papunya Tula Artists. George has painted at various locations, including Mt Liebig (Yamunturrngu) and Kintore (Walungurru), and at the Yayayi and Waruwiya outstations, working alongside Joseph Jurra Tjapatjarri and Ray James Tjangala. His subject matter references his ancestral country, its Tingari Stories and the various sites surrounding the area such as Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya, north-west of Kintore. Originally his artwork employed the typical Western Desert image bound to subtle hues, however his art style has evolved and re-shaped to include the brighter hues which dominates his canvases.

George Tjungarrayi has been painting for redrock gallery since 2000.

Selected Exhibitions:

2008 July, redrock gallery Beijing, 2nd Gallery Opening, Group Exhibition,  Beijing, P.R China

2007 November redrock gallery, Group Exhibition, International Art Expo, Beijing, P.R China

2007 Auguest redrock gallery, Group Exhibition, Grand Hyatt Hotel,Beijing, P.R China

2007 July redrock gallery, Group Exhibition China World Exhibition Centre, Beijing P.R China

2007 June redrock gallery, Group Exhibition, Gallery Grand Opening Beijing, P.R China

2001: Pintupi, Alice Springs

1997: Utopia Gallery, Sydney

1997: “Dreampower” Adelaide

1996, 1998: Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1995: Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory

1995: Groninger Museum, The Netherlands

1995, 1996: Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

1994: Gallerie Australis, Adelaide

1993, 1995: Chapman Gallery, Canberra

1992, 1994: Dreamtime Gallery, Broadbeach

1990, 1996: Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs

Selected Collections:

• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

• Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin

• Mem Aziz Private Collection, Melbourne

• Holmes a Court Collection

• Groninger Museum, The Netherlands

• Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

• Artbank

• University of Virginia, U.S.A.

• Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney

• Musee des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanien, Paris, France