Red Kangaroo Dreaming Yarnardilyi & Jurnti - Australia

Painted in 2011.

This painting depicts the Marlu Jukurrpa (red kangaroo [Macropus rufus] Dreaming) from Yarnardilyi and Jurnti (Mt Dennison area). ‘Marlu’ are highly valued as a food source by Warlpiri people. In the story of this painting an old ancestral kangaroo named Warlawee, who made itscamp at Jurnti and moves from place to place – hunting during the day and returning at night to the camp, which it has formed by digging depressions in the soft ground. Warlawee traveled around large areas of country looking for their preferred foods, which include ‘yukuri’ (fresh green growth) and ‘yulkardi’ (desert cucumber [Mukia micrantha]) a low-growing herb found underneath ‘mulga’ trees which is used by Warlpiri people for medicinal purposes. He is thinking about having a ceremony for men. Women are not permitted to dance in this ceremony. This Jukurrpa is the custodial responsibility of Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men and Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Concentric circles are often used in depictions of this story to represent the rocks at Yarnardilyi. The arc shapes depict the kangaroo's camp depict the ‘marlu wirliya’ (kangaroo fore and hind footprints) while long, straight lines represent the ‘marlu ngirnti’ (kangaroo tail tracks).

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity

Born: 1/07/1935

Skin Name: Japaljarri

Country: Yuendumu, Northern Territory

Group: Warlpiri/Anmatyerre

 

Biography:

Japaljarri is from Mungapunju, just south of Yuendumu. When he was a young man he was a station worker at Mt Allen, Mt Dennison and up the top end. He worked as a chef in Papunya, hence his nickname „Cookie?. For a very long time now he has been living in Yuendumu. Cookie worked at the Yuendumu school teaching young kids, both kardiya and yapa (non aboriginal and aboriginal). He taught painting, jukurrpa (dreaming), tracking (dingo, kangaroo, goanna etc...), how to make wax for the sand painting, dancing, making boomerangs and many other important culture traditions. Each day Paddy drove the school bus that collected the kids. He was also involved in the council here and in Night Patrol. Night Patrol has been absolutely invaluable as a yapa (aboriginal) policing body. Cookie has been drawing and painting for a long time, including working on the Yuendumu School Doors. He is presently the chairman for the Warlukurlangu Artists Committee, and paints regularly.

In 1988 Paddy Stewart was selected by The Power Gallery, Sydney University to travel to Paris with five other Warlpiri men from Yuendumu to create a ground painting installation at the exhibition 'Magiciens de la Terre' at the Centre Georges Pompidou. The trip took place in May 1989 and the painting was received with world wide acclaim.

In 2000 Paddy Stewart undertook to produce 30 etchings of the original Yuendumu Doors in collaboration with Paddy Sims and under the guidance of Basil Hall, Northern Editions Printmaker (Northern Territory University). The first print of the etchings was all on one page and had its debut alongside the Yuendumu Doors while they were exhibited in Alice Springs. The etchings in a set were launched in 2001, to great acclaim with the set winning the Telstra, 16th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, for works on paper.

 

Medium :

Acrylic on Linen

Prints

Ceremony

 

Themes

Marlu (Kangaroo), Janganpa (Possum), Yarla (Yam), Warlawurru (Eagle), Wardapi (Goanna), Yajukurlu (Bush cabbage), Jarlji (Frog), Jajirdi (chat autochthone), Ngatijirri (Budgerigar), Wakulyarri (Banded Rock Wallaby), Yanyilingi (Native Fuschia), Pingirri (ant meat).

 

Collections:
Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvin Grove, Glasgow, Scotland
Duncan Kentish
Flinders University Art Museum, South Australia
Gordon Darling Foundation, Canberra
Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Newmont Mining, USA
South Australian Museum, Adelaide
Seattle Art Museum, U.S.A.
Private Collections : Central TAFE Perth, WA