Description
This painting depicts designs associated with the rockhole site of Tjiparitjarra, near rocky outcrops and a large sandhill, west of Jupiter Well in the Western Australian desert. Jupiter Well is 146 km west of Kiwirrkurra and 210 km east of the Canning Stock Route. In mythological times a group of Tingari Men visited this site before travelling east, passing through Kiwirrkura and then north-east to Tarkul and Lake Mackay.
Since events associated with the Tingari Cycle are of a secret nature no further detail is given. Generally the Tingari are a group of ancestral beings who travelled over vast stretches of country, performing rituals and creating and shaping particular sites. The Tingari Men were usually followed by Tingari Women and accompanied by novices and their travels and adventures are enshrined in a number of song cycles that map country. These mythologies form part of the teachings of post initiatory youths today as well as providing explanations for contemporary customs.
Charlie Tjapangati Biography
Charlie Tjapangati was born at the site of Tjulurrunya, west of Kiwirrkura in approximately 1949. He is the younger brother of Nanyuma Napangati, who also painted for Papunya Tula Artists. During the early 1960’s Charlie travelled in to Papunya by truck with one of Jeremy Long’s government patrols. He was a young teenager at the time and was initiated in Papunya after arriving. Charlie commenced painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1978, and in 1999 he contributed to the Kintore mens’ painting as part of the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. He lived and worked in Kiwirrkura in Western Australia. His wife is Numida Nampitjinpa, who is also a painter.
In 2000 Charlie travelled to Sydney with a group of four men from Kiwirrkurra to make a ground painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the opening of Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius. He has appeared in many group exhibitions and two solo exhibitions since his career began. His work is included in major collections such as those of the National Gallery of Australia, the University of Virginia, USA, and the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory. He died in 2021.
Charlie Tjapangati Solo Exhibitions
2009 Birrung Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2002 Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, Victoria
Charlie Tjapangati Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
‘Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia, USA
2021
‘Papunya Tula: 50 Years 1971 – 2021’ S.H. Ervin Gallery, NSW
‘Martupura Tjukurrpa – Important Business’, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT.
2011
’40 years of Papunya Tula Artists’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW
‘Papunya Tula Artists – Community III’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW
2010
‘Papunya Tula Artists – Community’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW
‘Ngurrakutu – Going Home’, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT
‘Aboriginal Art 2010’, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
2009
‘Community – The Heart of Papunya Tula Artists’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW
2008
‘New Paintings from Papunya Tula Artists’, Chapman Gallery, ACT
‘Kintore to Kiwirrkura – Papunya Tula Artists’, Red Dot Gallery, Singapore
2007
‘Aboriginal Art 2007’, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Rising Stars’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Master Works from Papunya Tula’, Birrung Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales
2006
‘A Particular Collection’, Utopia Art Sydney, New South Wales
‘Across the board’, Utopia Art Sydney, New South Wales
‘Pintupi’, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK
‘Rising Stars’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Pintupi Art 2006’, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, South Australia
‘Yawulyurru Kapalilu palyara nintilpayi’, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
2005
‘Papunya – circa 1980’, Holmes à Court Gallery, Western Australia
‘Papunya Tula Artists – new work for a new space’, Utopia Art Sydney, New South Wales
‘Rising Stars’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Aboriginal Art 2005’, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Papunya Tula Artists’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Strong and Stately’, Red Dot Gallery, Singapore
‘Papunya Tula Artists – new work for a new space’, Utopia Art Sydney, New South Wales
‘New Works From The Western Desert’, Indigenart, Perth, Western Australia
2004
‘Papunya Tula – Selected paintings’, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Works from Kintore & Kiwirrkura’, Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
‘21st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award’, Darwin, Northern Territory
‘Melbourne Art Fair 2004’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria
‘Rising Stars’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Victoria
2003
‘Papunya Tula Masters’ – The Depot Gallery, Sydney
‘Pintupi Art From the Western Desert’, Indigenart, Subiaco, Western Australia
‘Masterpieces From The Western Desert’, Gavin Graham Gallery, London, UK
2003 ‘Spirituality & Australian Aboriginal Art’, Comunidad de Madrid touring exhibition, Spain
1982 – 2003 – Numerous
Collections: Artbank Holmes à Court Collection, Victorian Arts Centre, The Kelton Foundation Collection, National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Kluge Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, USA, Flinders University Art Museum, Macquarie Group Collection, Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
Selected Bibliography
Crocker A. (ed) Mr Sandman Bring Me a Dream, Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd, Alice Springs, & Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd, Sydney, 1981.
Amadio N. & Kimber R. Wildbird Dreaming, Aboriginal Art from the Central Deserts of Australia, Greenhouse Publications, Melbourne, 1988.
Johnson. V. Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert, A Biographical Dictionary, Craftsman House, NSW 1994.
P. Corbally Stourton, Songlines and Dreamings, Lund Humphries Publishers, London, 1996.
Mellor D. & Megaw V. Twenty-Five Years and Beyond, Papunya Tula Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Flinders Art Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, Flinders Press, 1999.
Scott Livesey Art Dealer, ‘Masterpieces From The Western Desert’, exhibition catalogue, London, UK, 2003.
Johnson, V. ‘Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists’, I.A.D. Press, Alice Springs, NT,
