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Rusty Peters – Dirrji - Juwurru (1935) Rusty Peters is a senior Gija man of Juwurru skin. His bush name Dirrji refers to dingo pups looking out of a hole at sunrise. He was born under a Warlagarri or Supplejack tree on Springvale Station south west of Turkey Creek the same day as his jimarri or age mate Charlie McAdam. His spirit came from a crocodile his father had killed when his mother became pregnant. He grew up on Springvale learning traditional law and working as a stockman and at other things such as welding fences and building and mending stockyards. When his father was killed in a tragic riding accident at Roses Yard, the family moved to Mabel Downs where he became renowned as a horse breaker. Peters lived for some time at Nine Mile reserve at Wyndham after the introduction of award wages forced people off stations but then moved to Turkey Creek where with other senior Gija artists such as Hector Jandany and George Mung Mung he helped start the school. As part of the Gija cultural program, he took groups of boys out bush, showed them how to make spears and hunt and to make a camp without matches or blankets in the traditional way. He also worked in the Gija language maintenance program. In 1989 Peters moved to Kununurra where he was employed at Waringarri Aboriginal Arts as an assistant. He was a long time friend of Rover Thomas, caring for him on most of the trips he made in the later part of his life. He made prints and did some painting while working for Waringarri Arts. He moved to Crocodile Hole when Freddy Timms established Jirrawun Arts there in 1997 and began to paint on large canvases. His detailed knowledge of the land and stories from Springvale and neighbouring Moolabulla Stations is reflected in distinctive paintings. While acknowledging the 'Turkey Creek' style, the intricate curves mapping the country and the dark caves and rivers in the pictures are particular to Peters' work. In early 2000 Rusty Peters collaborated with Peter Adsett, a New Zealand-born artist, to whom he was introduced by gallery owner William Mora. Each artist completed seven canvases taking turns to paint in response to each other. These paintings were exhibited together under the title of Two Laws, One Big Spirit at 24Hour Art, Darwin in September 2000. The Neminuwarlin Dance Group performed at the exhibition's closing ceremony. This acclaimed exhibition has toured across Australia and to New Zealand since opening in 2000. Peters' painting Chinaman's Garden Massacre 2000 depicts yet another tragic episode of East Kimberley history and was acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in March 2001. This painting, together with another work by Peters, Blackfella Murdered in Australia, were shown in the Blood on the Spinifex exhibition at the Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne between December 2002 and March 2003. His eight-panel painting Waterbrain 2002 was acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in February 2002 and featured in the True Stories: Art of the East Kimberley exhibition that opened in January 2003. In 2005 Rusty Peters exhibited with other Jirrawun artists in the exhibition Beyond the Frontier at Sherman Galleries in Sydney. between 1999 and 2006 he has had solo exhibitions at William Mora Galleries in Melbourne and also at Grantpirrie Gallery in Sydney. His work has also been selected for important survey exhibitions. In August 2006 the painting Gamerre – What’s this museum 2004 was included in the inaugural TarraWarra Museum of Art Biennial exhibition Parallel Lives: Australian Painting Today. In November 2006 five of Peters’ paintings were shown in the exhibtion Country in mind: Five contemporary Aboriginal artists at the Ian Potter Museum of Art at Melbourne University. This exhibition included the painting Spirit float away 2003, the powerful sequel painting to the Art Gallery of New South Wales monumental painting Waterbrain 2002. © Rusty Peters and Jirrawun Arts Solo Exhibitions 2006 2004 2003 2002 1999 Group exhibitions 2006 2005 Jirrawun in the House: A Contemporary Experience
from the East Kimberley - Parliament House, Canberra 2003 2002 2001 2000-2004 Toured throughout Australia in 2002 – 2004 to the following locations - Kalgoorlie, Fremantle, Waverley, Port Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, Ballarat, Grafton, Lismore, Gymea, Warwick, Woodridge, Cairns and Wagga Wagga - from January 2002 to November 2003 Opened in Wellington New Zealand August 2004 1999 1998
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