Back to
artists
Eubena Nampitjin
Born: c1921
Location: Tjintalpa,
north of Jupiter Well
Skin: Nampitjin
Language: Kukatja , Purtitjarra, Mantjilytjarra and
Wangkajungka
Selected details of artist’s working life
Mediums
Professional acrylic paint on linen
Printmaking
Glass
Themes
Kinyu Spirit dogs
Tjukarra (rock holes) and Tjumu (soaks) along the Canning Stock Route
Watikutjarra (two men dreaming)
Malu (kangaroo dreaming)
Kantilli (bush raisins) and Purra (bush tomato)
Tingari Tjukurrpa (Dreamtime Ancestral journeys)
Women’s Law ceremonies
Goanna, mouse, moon and dingo dreaming
Karnaputta and Kunawarritji
Biography
Eubena (Yupinya) is the best known of Warlayirti Artists’ many
artists. She is one of the most esteemed Law women in the community,
being consulted and deferred to on all questions of Law. Mukaka, Eubena’s
mother, together with her uncle, gave her Maparn (traditional healer)
skills when Eubena was just a young girl. In her formative years Eubena
and her family travelled and hunted, performing ceremonies and Law
to look after their country in the Great Sandy Desert, as well as for
their own spiritual preservation. Nomadic life was harsh and most of
her extended family had passed away or moved to other parts of the
country by the time Eubena had her first contact with non-Aboriginal
people.
Eubena with her first husband, the late Gimme, and family travelled
up the Canning Stock Route to Billiluna Station before following the
mission as it moved around, until the mission was established at its
present site at Balgo. At the mission Eubena and Gimme helped Father
Piele with a Kukatja dictionary. Today Eubena is one of the few people
who maintains a full vocabulary of the Kukatja language. Despite living
at the mission and tending herds of goats, Eubena continually travelled
back to her country, living in and from the land for extended periods.
Her extraordinary hunting instinct, which remains today, combines with
an effortless energy when she is out in the country.
Eubena started
painting with her second husband Wimmitji in the mid 1980s. Their work
shared a luminous and intricate complexity along with a love of the
warm reds, oranges and yellows that continue to be Eubena’s signature
today. Eubena’s reputation grew,
as one half of the famous painting duo at Balgo, but also as a solo
artist in her own right. Eubena has a spontaneity and strength of brush
mark that carves the paint, leaving rhythmical tracks across the canvas.
Her work resonates with the power of place and intimate knowledge of
country that Eubena has been able to maintain throughout her life.
Painting is like her second language and she paints persistently with
passion and dedication, weaving stories from the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming)
as well as her personal history and knowledge.
Eubena has travelled extensively to attend exhibition openings around
the country.
Solo exhibitions
2008 Balgo Survey, Redot Gallery, Singapore
2007 Mixed show, Palya Art , Melbourne,
Sydney Perth
2007 Balgo Survey, Gallery Gabrielle
Pizzi , Melbourne
2007 Best of the Best, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2007 Eubena Nampitjin, Alcaston Gallery,
Sydney
2006 Eubena Nampitjn, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Eubena Nampitjin, Alcaston Gallery,
Sydney
2004 Eubena Nampitjin, Alcaston Gallery,
Melbourne
2002 Eubena Nampitjin, Alcaston Gallery,
Melbourne
2000 Eubena Nampitjin and Lena Nyadbi, Tineriba
Gallery, Adelaide
1998 Kinyarri: My Country, Alcaston House
Gallery, Melbourne
Group Exhibitions
2008 Gifted, Dell Gallery QLD College
of Art, QLD
2008 Balgo Survey Show, Redot Gallery, Singapore
2007 New Balgo Prints & Glass, Northern
Editions, Darwin
2007 Dreaming Their W ay , Australian Aboriginal Women
Painters , National Museum of
Women in the Arts Washington
DC
2007 Prism: Contemporary Australian Art, Bridgestone
Museum, Tokyo
2007 Trace Moffat, Portraits of World Identities,
Art Gallery of New South Wales Gallery,
2007 Nora Nganapa/ Eubena Nampitjin, Short
Street Gallery, Broome
2007 Women With Sticks, Suzanne O’Connell,
Brisbane
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Gallery Gabrielle
Pizzi, Melbourne
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Gallery Gondwana,
Alice Springs
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Aboriginal Art and
Pacific Art, Sydney
2007 Warlayirti Survey, They Might Be Giants, Alcaston
Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane
2006 Warlayirti Suite Print Exhibition, Alcaston
Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Balgo Survey Show,
Redot Gallery, Singapore
2006 Singing and Dancing up the Country, Raft
Gallery, Darwin
2006 Survey , Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne
2006 Balgo Recent Works, Short Street Gallery,
Broome
2006 Balgo Prints, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Balgo 2006, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi Melbourne.
2005 Balgo 2005, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi,
Melbourne
2005 Glass from the Sand Country, Alcaston
Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre for Arts,
Alice Springs
2004 29th Annual Shell Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle
Arts Centre, Fremantle
2004 Recent
Works, Short St Gallery, Broome
2004 Balgo Prints, Northern Editions, Darwin
2004 Balgo a Go Go, Grantpirrie, Sydney
2004 Balgo 4-04, Warlayirti Artists, Balgo
2003 Big Country, Gallery Gondwana, Alice
Springs
2003 Eight by Three, Scott Livesey Art Dealer,
Melbourne
2003 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre for Arts,
Alice Springs
2003 Balgo Prints, Northern Editions, Darwin
2003 20th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery
of NT, Darwin
2003 Purtatjanirri Kamu Warrmala, Framed
Gallery, Darwin
2003 Balgo Brilliance, Art Mob, Hobart
2003 Palya Minyirri, Thornquest Gallery,
Gold Coast
2002 Balgo Hills, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi,
Melbourne
2002 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
2002 19th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery
of NT, Darwin
2002 Balgo Hills Artists 2002, Art Mob,
Aboriginal Fine Art, Hobart
2002 Art from Balgo, Gallery Gondwana, Alice
Springs
2002 Balgo Hills: An artist’s survey, Hogarth
Galleries, Sydney
2002 Big Colour My Country, Thornquest Gallery,
Gold Coast
2001 Opening Exhibition, Thornquest Gallery,
Gold Coast
2001 Beyond Wings, Flinders University Art
Museum, Adelaide
2001 All About Art, Alcaston Gallery,
Melbourne
2001 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre, Alice
Springs
2001 18th NATSIAA, Museum and Art
Gallery of NT, Darwin
2001 Kutjungka, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2001 Balgo Works, Staedtische Gallery,
Wolsfburg, Germany
2001 Recent Works by Artists from Balgo Hills,
Ochre Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria
2001 Balgo Artists Return to Country, Vivien
Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal
Art, Alcaston Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2000 The Westside: Images in Ochre and
Colour, Coo-ee II Exhibiting Gallery, Yuwayi Art Precinct, World
Square, Sydney
2000 Olympic Exhibition, Coo-ee Exhibiting
Gallery, Yuwayi Art Precinct, World Square, Sydney
2000 Balgo Hills, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi,
Melbourne
2000 17th NATSIAA, Museum Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory, Darwin
2000 Accents Australiens, Arts D’Australie,
Paris
2000 Melbourne Artfair 2000, Royal Exhibition
Building, Melbourne
2000 Waltja – Family, Hogarth Galleries,
Sydney
2000 Accents Australiens,l’Espace Adamski Designs,
Paris, France
2000 Arts d’ Australie, Arts D’Australie,
Paris
2000 Balgo Art, Gondwana Gallery, Alice Springs
2000 Balgo Hills Aboriginal Paintings, Bett Gallery,
Hobart
2000 Dreaming in Colour: Australian Aboriginal Art
from Balgo, Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA
2000 Aboriginal Art, Galerie Bahr, Speyer, Germany
1999 16th NATSIAA, Museum Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory, Darwin
1999 Aboriginal Art, IHK, Würzburg, Germany
1999 30th Alice Prize, Araluen Centre, Alice
Springs
1999 Mularrpa (True) Balgo, Framed, the Gallery,
Darwin
1999 Miliynyin, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney (special
feature)
1999 Miliynyin, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
1998 Ngurrara: My Own Country, Hogarth Galleries,
Sydney
1998 15th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of
the Northern Territory, Darwin
1998 The Laverty Collection, Museum of Contemporary
Art, Sydney
1998 A Thousand Journeys, Helen Read Collection,
touring exhibition
1998 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Art Awards, touring exhibition
1997 ‘Yarrtji’ Six Women’s Stories
from the Great Sandy Desert, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
1997 In Place (Out Of Time): Contemporary Art in Australia,
Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
1997 14th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of
the Northern Territory, Darwin
1997 Big Balgos: Recent Paintings by Warlayirti Artists,
Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1997 New Paintings by Balgo Women, Vivien Anderson
Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Daughters of the Dreaming: Sisters Together Strong,
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
1996 Songlines XV: Balgo Hills, Rebecca Hossack
Gallery, London, UK
1995 Stories: A Journey Around Big Things, Work by
11 Aboriginal Artists, touring, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Museum
für Völkerkunde Leipzig, Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin,
Ludwig-Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen, Germany
1995 Two Men Dreaming: New Art from Balgo Hills,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1995 Landscape as Language: Australian Perspectives Fine
Art Gallery, Brisbane
1994 Wirrimanu: Australian Aboriginal Art from Balgo
Hills WA, Channing Gallery, Santa Fe, USA, in association with
Adrian Newstead, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1994 Power of the Land: Masterpieces of Aboriginal
Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1993 Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1993 Australian Aboriginal Art, Salon de Sud-Est.
City of Lyon, in conjunction with Dettinger Mayer Gallery; toured Gallerie
Nurnaga, Neuchatel, France; Pujol Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
1992 65e Salon du Sud-Est, Palais des Expositions,
Lyon, France
1992 Flash Art, National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra
1992 Eubena and Wimmitji, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi,Melbourne
1991 Paintings by Senior Women from the Western Desert,
Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
1991 Aboriginal Women’s Exhibition, Art
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and travelling
1991 Warlayirti Artists, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1991 Some Aboriginal Women: a survey of Contemporary
Women’s Art, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1991 Mulun: the Art of the Great Sandy Desert,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1990 Contemporary Aboriginal Art 1990: from Australia,
touring Glasgow, Swansea and Manchester, UK
1990 Contemporary Aboriginal Art 1990 from the Robert
Holmes a Court Collection, touring USA
1990 The Singing Earth, Chapman Gallery, Canberra
1990 Eubena Nampitjin and Wimmitji Tjapanarti,
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
1990 Contemporary Aboriginal Art 1990 from Australia,
Tagari Lia: My Family Festival, Third Eye Centre, Scotland
1990 Paintings from Balgo WA, Hogarth Galleries,
Sydney
1989 Mythscapes: Aboriginal Art of the Desert,
National Gallery of Victoria
1989 Warlayirti Artists: Continuing Links with Land,
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1986 Art from the Great Sandy Desert, Art Gallery
of Western Australia, Perth
Collections
National Gallery of Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales
National Gallery of Victoria
Queensland Art Gallery
Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
Gantner Myer Collection
Kaye Archer Collection
The Holmes a Court Collection
Laverty Collection
Kluge Ruhe Collection, USA
Helen Read Collection
ArtBank
Western Mining Corporation Collection
Williams Collection
Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam
Harland Collection
Ken Thompson and Pierre Marecaux Collection
Singapore Art Museum
Awards
Winner of Telstra Open Painting Award, 15th National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Other
Canning Stock Route Project, Documentary, Exhibition
Bibliography
Art Gallery Guide, (ed) November /December 2007, pg14, 15
National Museum of Women in the Arts, (ed)2006, Dreaming Their Way,
Book, pg. 27, 84, 88-90, 140.
Eubena Nampitjin, Art and Life, (ed) 2006, Book. Published by
Warlayirti Artist Aboriginal Corporation
Alcaston Gallery, (ed), 2004, Eubena Nampitjin 2004, exhibition
catalogue, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Alcaston Gallery, (ed), 2002, Eubena Nampitjin, exhibition
catalogue, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Bahr, E., (ed), 2000, The Unseen in Seen, exhibition catalogue,
Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer, Germany
Borham, S., (ed), 2001, Australian Art Collector Issue 15, Jan-March
2001, Australia’s 50 Most Collectable Artists (p.57);
Collector’s Dossier: Yupinya Nampitjin (p.100), Gadfly
Media Publications, Sydney
Brody, A., Krempel, U., Bahr, E., (eds), 1995, Stories, Eine Reise
zu den grossen Dingen, exhibition catalogue, Sprengel Museum
Hannover, Germany
Cowan, J., 1999, Balgo – New Directions, Gordon & Breach
Arts International Limited (Craftsman House, Sydney)
Cowan, J., 1994, Wirrimanu – Aboriginal Art from Balgo Hills, Gordon & Breach
Arts International Limited (Craftsman House, Sydney)
Glowczewski, B., 1991, Yapa Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu,
Lebon Gallery, Paris
Isaacs, J., 1999, Spirit Country: Contemporary Austalian Aboriginal
Art, Hardie Grant Books, South Yarra
Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman
House, East Roseville, NSW
Kleinert, S. & Neale M., (eds), 2000, The Oxford Companion to
Aboriginal Art & Culture, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne
Mackenzie, M., (ed) 2004, Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres
Strait Islander Award: Celebrating 20 years, Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory, Darwin
McCulloch, S., 2002, The World from a Feminine Perspective, The Australian,
25 March
Morphy, H., 1998, Aboriginal Art, Phaidon Press Limited, London
Ryan, J., 2004, Colour Power: Aboriginal art post 1984, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne
Ryan, J., 2002, Indigenous Australian Art in the National Gallery
of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Ryan, J., 1993, Images of Power: Aboriginal art of the Kimberley,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Ryan, J., 1989, Mythscapes: Aboriginal Art of the Desert from the
National Gallery of Victoria, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne
Togni, S. & Williamson S., (eds), 2004 Balgo 4-04: New paintings
from the Kutjungka Region, Warlayirti Artists, Balgo
Watson, C., 2003, Piercing the Ground, Fremantle Arts Centre Press,
Fremantle
Watson, C., 1999, ‘Touching the Land’, Art from the Land,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
West, M., (ed), 2001, Telstra presents the 18th National Aboriginal & Torres
Strait Islander Art Award, exhibition catalogue, Museum & Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Willsteed, T., (ed), 2004 Tradition Today: Indigenous art in Australia,
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
|
