Uta Uta Tjangala
(Australia circa 1926–14 Dec 1990)
- Language group
- Pintupi, Western Desert region
- Title
- Untitled (Jupiter Well to Tjukula)
- Place of origin
-
Papunya →
Northern Territory →
Australia
- Year
- (1979)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- synthetic polymer paint on linen canvas
- Dimensions
-
230.0 x 380.0cm stretcher
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 2004
- Accession number
- 160.2004
- Copyright
- © Estate of the artist. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
Uta Uta Tjangala was a gardener at Papunya when he became one of the original group of artists who began painting in 1971. Tjangala is regarded as one of the Pintupi 'masters' who began with small-scale paintings on board, and moved on to painting canvases on a vast scale, as in 'Untitled (Jupiter Well to Tjukula)' 1979. It is an indication of his seniority and ability as an artist that Tjangala was commissioned to create a work of this size so early in the history of Papunya Tula painting. Based on the Tingari cycles of ceremonies, the work depicts ancestral activities over a vast area of the Western Desert and may be seen as a longing for home at a time when Tjangala and many other Pintupi leaders were advocating for the establishment of homelands in their traditional country. This dream was realised with the establishment of Walungurru (Kintore) in 1981 and Kiwirrkura in 1983, which service numerous outstations throughout Pintupi country.
- Bibliography (5)
-
‘New Australia’ by Wayne Tunnicliffe and Deborah Edwards, pg. 24-27., Look May 2012, May 2012, 26.
Hetti Perkins (Australia) (Author), Art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art, Carlton, 2010, 18-19 (colour illus.), 20, 278.
'Years of enrichment: The society reaches another milestone' by Craig Bush, pg. 12-15., Look May 2009, May 2009, 15 (colour illus.).
Phillip Batty (Author), John Kean (Australia) (Author), Dick Kimber (Australia, b.1939) (Author), Jeremy Long (Australia) (Author), Colliding worlds: first contact in the Western Desert 1932-1984, Melbourne, 2006, 45 (colour illus.), 46, 51, 56.
Stephen Weeks (Editor), Greg Hilty (Editor), Thomas Hauffe (Editor), Aratjara: art of the first Australians, Dusseldorf, 1993, 259 (colour illus.), 347. cat.no. 105
- Exhibition history (8)
-
Aratjara: art of the first Australians, Stiftung Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, 23 Apr 1993–04 Jul 1993.
Aratjara: art of the first Australians, Hayward Gallery, 23 Jul 1993–10 Oct 1993.
Aratjara: art of the first Australians, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 11 Feb 1994–23 May 1994.
Colliding worlds: First contact in the Western Desert 1930-1984, Tandanya, 18 Feb 2006–28 May 2006.
Colliding worlds: First contact in the Western Desert 1930-1984, Melbourne Museum, 03 Jul 2006–10 Sep 2006.
Colliding worlds: First contact in the Western Desert 1930-1984, Australian Museum, 01 Apr 2007–26 Aug 2007.
Colliding worlds: First contact in the Western Desert 1930-1984, Albury Regional Gallery, 11 Jan 2008–24 Feb 2008.
Colliding worlds: First contact in the Western Desert 1930-1984, Araluen Centre, 07 Mar 2008–20 Apr 2008.
