Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Australian Aboriginal Artist
which has spearheaded his movement into galleries around the world.
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa Other Spellings: Jampijinpa, Djambidjimpa, Tjambitjimba, Tjampatjimpa Born: 1942 c. Region: Western Desert Community Centre: Kintore Art Centre or Agency: Papunya Tula Artists Language Bloc: Western Desert Language: Pintupi Social Affiliations: Tjampitjinpa subsectionSubjects and Themes:
Tingari, water, two snakes,
Awards:
1988, Alice Prize, Alice Springs, NT
Collections held:
Artbank, Sydney.
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Donald Kahn collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
Musee des Arts Africans et Oceaniens, Paris.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.
Exhibitions:
1989, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
1983, Mori Gallery, Sydney.
1986, Roar Studios, Melbourne.
1987, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
1988, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
1989, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
1989, Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition, National Gallery of Australia
1990, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
1990, Paintings from the Desert, Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings, Plimsoll Gallery, Centre for the Arts, Hobart, Tasmania
1990, The Seventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1991, The Eighth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1990, National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome 1991, Flash Pictures, National Gallery of Australia
1991, Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA
1991, Aboriginal Paintings from the Desert, Union of Soviet Artists Gallery, Moscow and Museum of Ethnographic Art, St. Petersburg,Russia.
1992, Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1992, The Ninth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1993, Aboriginal Art Exhibition, Kung Gubunga,Oasis Gallery, Broadbeach,Qld
1993, Tjukurrpa, Desert Dreamings, Aboriginal Art from Central Australia (1971-1993), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth WA
1993, Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1994, Dreamings - Tjukurrpa: Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert; The Donald Kahn collection, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
1994, Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1994, The Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1994, Australian Heritage Commission National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra.
1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria.
1994, Yiribana, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Select Bibliography:
Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, 1991,
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA
Caruana, W., 1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London. (C)
Crumlin, R., (ed.), 1991, Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, Collins Dove, North Blackburn, Victoria. (C)
Dussart, F., 1993, La Peinture des Aborigines D'Australie, Editions Parentheses, Marseille, France.
Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales. (C)
McCulloch, A., & McCulloch, S., 1994, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, St Leonards, New South Wales.
Neale, M., 1994, Yiribana, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. (C)
Wallace, D., Desmond, M., Caruana, W., 1991, Flash Pictures, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
1990, Papunya Tula, exhib. cat., Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. (C)
1992, 'Aboriginal Art', National Gallery News, 10th Birthday edition, September/October 1992, p. 5-7.
1993, Tjukurrpa Desert Dreamings, Aboriginal Art from Central Australia (1971-1993), exhib. cat., Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. (C)
1993, Australian Perspecta 1993, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. (C)
� Discovery Media, Documentation Pty Ltd, and the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Ronnie was born around 1943 near Muyinnga, about 100 kilometres west of the Kintore ranges. His family moved extensively across the Pintupi territory up through the Northern Territory, living the traditional ways, which his people have lived for over 40,000 years.
He was initiated into manhood in the early 1950's at Yumari near his birthplace. Shortly afterwards, due to drought conditions in the 1950's, Ronnie and his family moved towards Haasts Bluff and then later joined relatives at the newly settled Papunya community. He found work as a fencer making the yards for cattle in the surrounding area.
It was during this time that he started to take an interest in the art movement happening at this time. Shortly after he started painting, he discussed with many people about moving back into the traditional lands, which is the basis of their lives. His goal was made possible by the establishment of the Kintore settlement in 1981.
By being more in touch with his traditional lands and the Dreaming, Ronnie soon emerged as one of Papunya Tula's major artists. His work reflects his directs ties with his culture, retaining a purity that many other aboriginal artists have not achieved. Ronnie's work follows the strict Pintupi style of strong circles joined together by connecting lines relating to the people and the land and the Dreamtime.
His work has a simplicity that makes it appealing, yet mysterious as the uninitiated try to understand what he is painting. By painting the Dreamtime he is helping to resurrect the Aboriginal culture as a whole and allow outsiders to learn about one of the oldest cultures in the world. This work is important to the spirituality of this land, bridging the gap between European life and Traditional Aboriginal Life, which is important in exposing and healing this gap.
Being one of the major Aboriginal Artists his work has featured in numerous exhibitions and collections around Australia. He has had solo exhibitions at the Utopia Gallery and the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi. Several of his group exhibitions include the Dreamtime Gallery, The Australian National Gallery and the Art Gallery of South Australia. He is also in permanent collections at the National Gallery and the Art Gallery of Victoria and the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.