Jack Wunuwun | National Museum of Australia

Gaŋarl clan, Murruŋun language, Dhuwa moiety

Colour photograph 0of a man sitting on the ground painting. - click to view larger image — Jack Wunuwun

1930–1991

Wunuwun was an innovative painter, unafraid to draw on influences from European art. He pioneered the rendering of three dimensions and perspective in bark painting. Wunuwun firmly believed that art was a powerful means by which to reconcile Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. In 1987 he was voted the Aboriginal Artist of the Year in the NAIDOC Awards.

His work was included in several major exhibitions including Artists of Arnhem Land at the Canberra School of Art in 1983; Magiciens de la Terre, Paris, in 1989; Aratjara, which toured Europe in 1993–94; and Stories, from the Holmes à Court Collection, at the Sprengel Museum, Hanover, in 1995.

Paintings in the exhibition

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark. The upper half of the painting depicts yams with dragon fly, ants, bees and other insects on a red background. The lower half depicts jungle yams either painted in white crosshatching or in a brown spotted design on a black background. There is a fine white border around the painting. - click to view larger image — *Bartji (Jungle Yams)*

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark. It depicts eight lizards each with white, brown and yellow crosshatched patterns on their bodies. Two of the lizards have yellow features attached to either side of their heads. Three other lizards have their heads inside round containers. There are two other cylindrical objects in the painting. The painting has a striped background. - click to view larger image — *My Father’s Dreaming*

Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters

One Road: Aboriginal Art from Australia’s Deserts

Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957–1973

Defining Moments

Friends

All these bark paintings are part of the National Museum of Australia’s collection. © the artist or the artist’s estate, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency 2013, unless otherwise specified. These images must not be reproduced in any form without permission.

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