Helicopter Tjungurrayi Aboriginal, b. 1947
Wangkartu 10, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
149 x 74 cm
Signed, dated and inscribed verso
Warlayirti Artists no. 144/08
Warlayirti Artists no. 144/08
Helicopter paints the area south of Balgo, in the Great Sandy Desert, where he was born. His homeland is named Wangkartu after the tjurrnu (soakwater) featured in the centre of...
Helicopter paints the area south of Balgo, in the Great Sandy Desert, where he was born. His homeland is named Wangkartu after the tjurrnu (soakwater) featured in the centre of this painting. Wangkartu is an inta (living water) so always contains drinking water and the parallel lines represent the tali (sandhills) that dominate the country. Helicopter produced his first solo canvas in 1994 immediately forging his own style. His canvasses are like macroscopic tapestry of country, in which watering holes and desert dunes have been made the very grammar of Wangkartu.
Provenance
Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills
Exhibitions
2009, Wangkartu Dreaming: Helicopter Tjungurrayi & Lucy Yukenbarri, Whiford Fine Art, London
Literature
Wangkartu Dreaming: Helicopter Tjungurrayi & Lucy Yukenbarri, Whiford Fine Art, London, 2009, exhibition catalogue, ill. cat. no.2