John Namerredje Guymala | National Museum of Australia

Burdan clan, Kunwinjku language, Duwa moiety

1926–about 1978

Namerredje was a superb draughtsman with a recognisably individual ‘hand’. The beautifully articulated patterns of rarrk that decorate his figures epitomise the Bininj notion of aesthetics in painting referred to as kabimbebme, literally ‘colour coming out’.

In 1973 Namerredje and his family moved to Yaymini outstation, far to the south of Maningrida, which they shared with Wally Mandarrk and his family. In the 1970s his work was collected by the Aboriginal Arts Board and by the American collector and professor of English literature, Ed Ruhe.

Namerredje’s paintings were selected for The Art of Aboriginal Australia, which toured North America in 1974–76; and Kunwinjku Bim at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984.

Paintings in the exhibition

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It depicts two male figures, each with a spear and a woomera. The figures are painted in white with crosshatching, stripes and spots in black, brown and yellow. The painting has a brown background. - click to view larger image — *Namorrorddo Spirits*

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It depicts a seated female spirit figure with raised and bent legs and arms. There is a curved form around her head and she is seated on a rectangular shape The figure is painted in herringbone stripes of white on red ochre and with red lines with white dots. The painting has a black background. - click to view larger image — *Ngalkunburriyaymi Female Spirit*

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It depicts a large serpent surrounding a female spirit. The spirit has broadly striped lower limbs and crosshatched upper legs and torso. The serpent has a black backbone with an internal red line with white dots. Its head and neck are painted in red white and black stripes. The painting has a red background. - click to view larger image — *Ngalyod and Ngalkunburriyaymi*

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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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