Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
Born	late 1950s hillside east of modern-day Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia
Residence	Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia Ilparpa, near Alice Springs
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Painter
Years active	1987 – present
Organization	Papunya Tula
Style	Western Desert art
Spouse(s)	Yalti Napangati
Children	4
Parent(s)	Waku Tjungurrayi (father) Papalya Nangala (mother)
Relatives	Topsy Napaltjarri Takariya Napaltjarri Piyiti Tjapaltjarri Thomas Tjapangati Yukultji Napangati Walala Tjapangati

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (Pintupi [waɭɪmb̥ɪr ɟab̥əɭɟari]; born late 1950s) is an Australian Aboriginal artist. He is one of central Australia's most well-known indigenous artists.

Warlimpirrnga was born in the late 1950s, near Lake Mackay, east of where Kiwirrkurra is today. His family were Pintupi hunter-gatherers who lived a traditional nomadic way of life on the western side of the lake, and had never come into contact with Euro-Australian society. Warlimpirrnga's father died when he was a young boy, and his mother remarried shortly after. Warlimpirrnga himself married his cousin, Yalti, sometime around 1980... He served the family's main provider of food, hunting with spears, mirru (spear-throwers) and boomerangs.

In 1984, when Warlimpirrnga was about 25, he finally came into contact people from outside his family. Upon seeing a white man for the first time, Warlimpirrnga remembers, "I couldn't believe it. I thought he was a devil, a bad spirit. He was the colour of clouds at sunrise." A few days later, he and his family were settled at Kiwirrkurra. News of this group living nomadically so far into the modern world made headlines internationally.

Warlimpirrnga started painting in 1987, working with Papunya Tula. Initially practising under the tutelage of other artists at the company, he finished his first painting for them in April 1987. His first public exhibition was in Melbourne, the following year. It showed eleven of his paintings, all of which were bought for the National Gallery of Victoria. He has since become one of central Australia's most well-known artists.

Warlimpirrnga paints abstract images of sacred stories and songs from his family's Dreaming. The stories focus around the Tingari, the ancestors of the Pintupi, spirit beings who are believed to have created all living things. His stories are about his country and sacred sites such as Marruwa and Kanapilya.

...
Wikipedia