The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is proud to welcome back the beautiful works from Australia’s foremost Aboriginal owned art centre, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd. This exhibition will represent the 8thshowing in Singapore of the stunning work by the desert masters.
This year’s show, Pintupi Men, focuses on the work by five male Papunya Tula artists, showcasing a selection of stunning recent works by both senior and emerging artists from the Kintore and Kiwirrkura communities. This exhibition boldly honours the traditions of the company’s founding artists and shareholders of the early 1970’s.
Ray James TJANGALA, Matthew WEST TJUPURRULA, Morris GIBSON TJAPALTJARRI, Nyilyari TJAPANGATI and Patrick TJUNGURRAYI epitomize the integrity and success of Papunya Tula Artists. Ranging from 35 to around 75yrs of age, these men carry custodial responsibilities for important sites in the western desert region of central Australia. Their significant role within Papunya Tula Artists places them at the forefront of the modern Aboriginal art movement.
These artists, together with other Pintupi men, are the custodians of important sacred sites relating to the Tingari Song Cycle. The Tingari Men were a group of ancestral people who travelled over vast areas of the Western Desert, performing rituals and creating or “opening up” the country. They were usually accompanied by recently-initiated novices to whom they provided ceremonial instruction relating to the cultural law of the region.
The adventures of the Tingari people are enshrined in numerous song cycles which provide explanations for contemporary customs in Western Desert Aboriginal life.
At the many sites that make up these songlines, groups of Tingari people held ceremonies, experienced adversity and had adventures, in the course of which they either created or became the physical features of the sites involved. The oral narratives that describe these adventures stretch to thousands of verses, and provide countless topographical details that would assist nomadic bands to navigate and survive in the arid landscape.
Come and see the work of some of Australia’s most celebrated Aboriginal artists and learn more about their ancestral stories. The roundels, lines and interlocking designs embedded in their paintings tell you of these ancient rituals. Soft natural colours, bold secretive brush movements and traditional iconography all act to preserve the sacred and important stories of Australia’s western desert.
The exhibition opens on Wednesday 19th October and runs till Wednesday 30th November 2011 and it is a must see for anyone interested in following the songlines of Papunya Tula Artists, one of the Aboriginal art movements most important art centers. The show will be opened by Mr. Paul Sweeney, General Manager of Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd.