In 1984 the international headlines were filled with the ’discovery’ of the last group of nine Australian Aborigines who had managed to retain their traditional lifestyle in complete isolation until the late 20th century. Until they looked for contact in 1984, they had never seen a white man. Six of these nine Aboriginals became artists, including Walala Tjapaltjarri. Walala was born around 1960 and his work consists primarily of square patterns that refer to different stories from the traditional Tingari story cycle. Walala often paints triptychs on which he depicts the holy places from the Dream Time (Aboriginal time of creation). These holy places are spread over the countryside west of Lake Makaay, including Mina Mina salt lake. In some of his work he also shows the initiation rituals of his Tingari ancestors that were held in the Gibson Desert. In his most impressive work he uses a limited palette of blacks and whites with red or yellow ochres. Walala is widely praised as an innovative and adventurous artist. His work is characterized by a combination of traditional patterns and a high degree of refined abstraction. He was praised among others by the art critic Robert Hughes (Time Magazine) and included in his BBC documentary series Beyond the Fatal Shore (2000).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2021 ‘Aboriginalities’, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels, Belgium
2019 ‘Walala Tjapaltjarri: Self-portrait’, Fondation Opale, Lens, Switzerland
2019 Art New York, SmithDavidson Gallery, Miami, USA
2018 EXPO Chicago, SmithDavidson Gallery, Chicago, USA
2017 ‘Modern Masters’, SmithDavidson Gallery, Miami, USA
2015 ‘Signs and Traces. Contemporary Aboriginal Art', Zamek Culture Centre, Poznan, Poland
2000-2001 'The Art of Place Exhibition', Australian Heritage Commission, National Tour
2000 'My Country - Journeys of our Ancestors’, Ancient Earth Indigenous Art, Cairns, Australia
2000 'Landmarks Exhibition', Dar Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia
2000 'Fifth National Indigenous Heritage Art Award', Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra, Australia
2000 17th Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia
1999 'Spirit Country’, The California Palace of the Legion of Honour, San Francisco, USA
1999 'Painting the Desert’, Alliance Francaise de Canberra and the French Embassy, Canberra, Australia
1999 16th Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia
1998 15th Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia
1997 14th Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia
Born in *unknown* on November 30th, 1959