Ngarra

For the Yolngu ceremony known as Ngarra, see Ngarra ceremony.

Ngarra (c.1920–2008) was an Aboriginal Australian artist of the Andinyin and Gija peoples, known for his paintings on canvas and paper which depicted his homelands in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, along with events from the ancestral and colonial past. Among Aboriginal people in the central and east Kimberley he was revered for his deep knowledge of Aboriginal ceremonial practices which he learned from his grandparents Muelbyne and Larlgarlbyne while living nomadically in the remote Mornington Range.[1]

Early life

Ngarra was born in 1920 on Glenroy Station in the west Kimberley. An orphan, he ran away from the station and went to live with his grandparents Muebyne and Larlgarbyne.[2][3]

Career

Ngarra started painting in 1994. His work was facilitated and documented by the anthropologist Kevin Shaw.[4]

Ngarra's late paintings are defined by his use of vibrant colour contrast, which he achieved by mixing Ara acrylic paints to create his own palette. Ngarra's paintings contain many references to pre-colonial Aboriginal traditions. His works were exhibited at the Western Australian Museum in 2000, and some are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Museum Victoria.[2]

In 2015, sixteen of Ngarra's works were included in the exhibition No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting.[5] Organised by William Fox and Henry Skerritt for the Nevada Museum of Art, the exhibition toured to five museums across the United States.[6] A tribute to the artist was included in the inaugural Tarnanthi exhibition in 2015 at the Art Gallery of South Australia.[7]

Collections

• Artbank
• Art Gallery of Western Australia
• Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia
• Edith Cowan University
• Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia[8]
• Museum Victoria
• Redland City Art Gallery
• Western Australian Museum

Significant exhibitions

• 2000: Ngarra, Images of His Country. Katta Djinoong Gallery, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
• 2000: National Indigenous Heritage Award., Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia[9]
• 2014: The World is Not a Foreign Land. Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• 2015 No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting. Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, USA
• 2015: Tarnanthi. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

References

1. Tapper, Nick (2015). Ngarra: The Texta Drawings. Coolbinia, Western Australia: Mossenson Art Foundation. p. 175. ISBN 9780980400946.
2. "Ngarra". Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA). Archived from the original on 24 March 2020.
3. Allinson, Miles. "Ngarra's texta drawings imbued with the mystical force of Aboriginal life". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
4. Shaw, Kevin (2003). Mates: Images of the Kimberley. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing. ISBN 1740970284.
5. "No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting". Nevada Museum of Art. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
6. edited by Henry F. Skerritt; with contributions by John Carty, Edwina Circuitt, William L. Fox, Stephen Gilchrist, Jens Hoffmann, Darren Jorgensen, Emily McDaniel, Ian McLean, Fred R. Myers, Una Rey, Luke Scholes, Henry F. Skerritt, Quentin Spraque (2014). No boundaries : aboriginal Australian contemporary abstract painting : from the Debra and Dennis Scholl collection. Munich. ISBN 978-3-7913-5449-1. OCLC 892794774. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
7. "Tarnanthi 2015". AGSA - The Art Gallery of South Australia. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
8. "Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia". Kluge-Ruhe. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
9. Commission., Australian Heritage (1998–2000). National Indigenous Heritage Art Award : catalogue ... Australian Heritage Commission. OCLC 222648414.

Further reading

• Coslovich, Gabriella Ngarra finds his art through the hands of time. The Age, Oct 05, 2002.
• Jorgensen, Darren (April 2016). "Ngarra and the 'Ngarrangkarni'". Art Monthly Australasia (288): 22–27.
• Late bloomer's broad palette. 2008. The Canberra Times, 11 December 2008.
• "Ngarra". NETS Victoria. 2013.
• Sprague, Quentin. "Outside history-Mick Jawalji and Ngarra." Art Monthly Australia 244 (2011): 80.
• Skerritt, Henry F. "Ngarra, Andinyin/Kitja, Artist, c. 1920-2008." Art Monthly Australia 216 (2008): 42.
• Skerritt, Henry F. Culture mirrored in art. The Courier-Mail, Dec 30, 2008.
• Skerritt, Henry F. A master of tradition and innovation. Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 06, 2008.