GEORGE HAIRBRUSH TJUNGURRAYI (c1943 - )
Hand Signed, Original Acrylic On Canvas
Title: Tingari
Image Size: 89cm x 60cm
Signed: Verso - X
Condition: Excellent - New
Stretched and Ready to Hang.
Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and photo of George with this work.
You can also come view this work and many others in our Surry Hills Gallery in Sydney. Please message me to arrange a time to view in person.
Serafin Martinez
Principal, Martinez Art Dealer
Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia
ABN 36 561 407 649
George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi, one of the original members of what were to become the Aboriginal art movement, was born around 1943 in his country North West of Kiwirrkurra, located in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia. George's 'sisters' are Naata Nungurrayi and Nganngi (Nancy) Nungurrayi, both well-known artists like George.
George served as an 'apprentice' to the senior artists in the Papunya art community. He was surrounded and encouraged by some of the great artists in the Aboriginal art movement, and in 1976 he began to paint in his own right after encouragement from Nosepeg Tjupurrula, one of the founding artists of the Papunya art movement and a leading identity.
Whilst his early works resemble that of some of the great Papunya masters, George soon developed his own distinctive style.
George has perfected a minimalist and abstracted style of painting that is characterised by transverse parallel lines that pulse with subtle optical rhythm.
George's artworks symbolise ancestral journeys and ceremonial body paint. In particular, George paints the Tingari stories of his ancestral country which covers the sites around Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya.
The Tingari cycle embodies a vast network of Aboriginal Dreaming songlines that traverse the Western Desert region of Australia. Locations and events of the Tingari cycle frequently occur as the subject matter of Aboriginal art from the region. In Pintupi narratives, a group of Tingari men (ancestral elders) - who were usually followed by groups of women and children - travelled over the Western Desert area performing rituals and creating the country. Deep knowledge of Tingari business is still very secretive and restricted to men in the community who hold an appropriate level of seniority. There are however public stories that do not disclose secret/sacred knowledge.
George has continued to exhibit throughout Australia and internationally. He was a finalist in the Wynne Prize 2007, and in 2006 George Tjungurrayi was Highly Commended in the 34th Alice Prize. In 2003 he was voted as one of the "50 Most Collectable Artists" by Australian Art Collector magazine. His son Jake James Tjapaltjarri also a collectible artist.
