Patrick Tjungurrayi 


Born:   		1943 
Region: 		Kimberley WA
Community: 	Balgo Hills 
Outstation: 	Kiwirrkura 
Language: 	Kukatja, Pintupi 
Skin:   		Tjungarrayi. 
Subjects: 		Nynmi Rockhole, Tingarri men's law, Warrira rockhole, Ngurti, Pundutjalpa. 


Awards:
2008 - Winner of the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, at the Art Gallery of WA, Perth. 

Collections:
Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands. 
Artbank Collection 
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 
Griffith University Art Collection, Griffith, NSW. 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.


Exhibitions:
2014 - Warlayirti: The Art of Balgo, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. 
2012 - Tjukurrpa Ngaatjanya Maru Kamu Tjulkura (Dreaming in Black and White), at the Red Dot Fine 	Art Gallery, Singapore. 
2011 - Celebrating 40 years of Papunya Tula Artists Invitation, at Utopia Art Sydney. 
2010 - Papunya Tula Artists Community, Utopia Art, Sydney. 
2010 - Papunya Tula Artists - Classics at Honey Ant Gallery Sydney. 
2010 - Tradition and Innovation - Papunya Tula 2010, at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 
2010 - PTA at Utopia Art Sydney. 
2009 - Community - the heart of Papunya Tula artists, at Utotpia Art Sydney. 
2008 - Paintings from remote communities: Indigenous Australian art from the Laverty collection, 	Newcastle Regional Gallery, Newcastle, NSW; 
	Melbourne Art Fair 2008, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi stand, Melbourne; 
	Desert Prophets - Papunya Tula Artists, at Mossenson Galleries, Subiaco, WA; 
	Balgo Family, at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; 
	Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards (2008), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. 
2007 - Papunya Tula Artists 2007, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 
2006-2007 - Gifted: Contemporary Aboriginal Art: The Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund, Art Gallery of 	New South Wales, Sydney. 
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 
2004 - 21st Telstra National Aborigainal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art 	Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 
2003 - Papunya Tula artists - a gift from the desert, Utopia Art, Sydney. 
2000 - Papunya Tula Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia. 
1996 - Dreamings of the Desert, The Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.


Select Bibliography:
2000 Papunya Tula Genesis and Genius, Exhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of 
New South Wales, Australia. 

1996 V. Johnston, Dreamings of the Desert, The Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide



© Discovery Media, Documentation Pty Ltd, and the Australian 
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies






Notes:
'If contemporary Aboriginal art has become renowned for its flickering, optical power, 
then Patrick Tjungurrayi would have to be described as a master of the form. His works 
pulse with desert warmth and where all too much Aboriginal art on the market appears 
to be a pastiche of traditional forms to capture a bewildered and naive market, 
Tjungurrayi's work is both unique in structure and indisputably heart-felt."
Australian Art Collector Magazine 2005

Tjungurrayi is a leading Papunya Tula artist whose artworks are sought after by collectors 
worldwide. His inclusion in the 1996 Dreamings of the Desert and the 2000 Papunya Tula: 
Genesis and Genius exhibitions consolidated his status as one of the key figures of the 
Papunya movement'.
Patrick Tjungurrayi article was written by Ashley Crawford for 'Australian Art Collector: 
50 Most Collectable Edition 2005'