Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri

Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri
Australian c. 1926–1998
language group: Pintupi

Water Dreaming (Itjinpiri, Water Hole) 1995
synthetic polymer paint on linen
Geelong Gallery
Gift of Ben Clark through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2020

Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri was an early Papunya Western Desert artist, and is one of the most significant painters to have emerged from this region in early 1970s. Born at Marnpi, Northern Territory, he spent his formative years at the Lutheran Hermannsburg Mission and later worked on cattle stations at Tempe Downs and Haasts Bluff. He began painting after settling at Papunya in the 1960s, and in 1971 he was one of several Papunya councillors who became founding members of Papunya Tula Artists whose work is characterised by the dot painting style. Over the course of his career, his work would evolve from figurative depictions of traditional designs and ceremonial performances to the abstract and minimal depictions of Country now associated with the region’s artists.