Born and raised in Kunbarlanja, Maralngurra is the oldest of seven children. Maralngurra's entry into Aboriginal art began through the guidance of his uncle, Thompson Yulidjirri. During his childhood, Yulidjirri brought him to witness the rock paintings on Injalak Hill. This exposure sparked Maralngurra's artistic inspiration, drawing from the richly adorned rock art galleries throughout western Arnhem Land.[2]
In Aboriginal Australian cultures, Dreaming is the word used to explain the origin of life, cultural values, and law of the regions. To Aboriginal peoples, it represents the time when the accessorial spirits progressed over their land and gave it life.[3] It is these stories that have been passed down through cultural traditions of body painting, storytelling, song and dance from his ancestry that have greatly influenced his art.
Career
Maralngurra is known for working with ochre on paper, as well as keeping the traditional forms of rock art, while combining new innovative techniques. Since he began painting, his artistic practice has been characterised by the breadth and depth of subjects, as well as fluent linework and highly original compositions.[4] The purpose of many of his paintings are to draw the attention of non-Indigenous viewers who do not understand or even realise his culture exists. The artistic style of the Kunwinjku people from Western Arnhem Land retains a strong influence from the traditional rock art of the area. It is reimagined thematically as a narrative that encompasses a blend of "intense emotions like yearning, passion, supernatural elements, and retribution."[5] With Maralngurra's artwork, he aims to ensure that the tradition and practice of painting in the Arnhem Land is not lost, but passed down to the younger generations. As an artist, his artistic oeuvre covers a diverse range of subjects, spanning depictions of ancestral stories, flora and fauna, as well as scenes portraying the initial interactions between colonisers and Aboriginal people.[6] In doing this, Maralngurra employs innovative techniques when passing down stories, traditions, and practices of his culture in the Arnhem Land. He does this through expressing his relationship with the natural world.
One of Maralngurra's most notable achievements includes being one of the founding members of Injalak Arts in the 1980s.[1] Injalak Hill remains a centre for tourism due to its decorated rock art imagery from over thousands of year ago.[7] During the "contact" period, artists persisted in creating rock art despite growing encroachments on their territories, diseases, and conflicts on the frontier. Nestled in a remote rock shelter on Injalak Hill, a specific rock painting narrates a unique tale of cultural interaction. Dubbed by Aboriginal Traditional Owners as the "Buffaroo", it likely blends a traditional motif - the kunj or kangaroo - with a recently introduced creature - the nganaparru or water buffalo.[7] This life-sized painting of the "Buffaroo" likely represents a period of experimentation for the Aboriginal artists as they familiarised themselves with depicting a newly introduced animal in that region.[8]
It is these traditional rock art paintings that continue to inspire Maralngurra's paintings. His artworks often illustrate local fauna, spirit figures such as the Mimih spirit, and Dreaming narratives (or djang). However, he always finds a way to add his own narrative flair and eternal coherence that is unique to art in the Arnhem Land.[citation needed]
This innovative mimicking of rock art has been referred to as "rock art style" and is intended to combine the ancient aspects of rock art with new techniques, such as printing on paper and the use of Reckitt blue. This innovation steams both from Maralngurra's desire to innovate and to sell copies around the world.[9]
He attributes most of his painting education to his elder, Thompson Yulidjirri, who has always played an important role in the teaching of younger generations.[2] He has picked up on many of his painting techniques such as the x-ray and rarrk (cross-hatching) technique, and has taught Maralngurra how to combine traditional and non-traditional techniques to empower their communities.
Maralngurra's artwork draws inspiration from ancient rock paintings in the area and this is how he incorporates painting techniques like x-ray and rarrk. His paintings often include hunting and cooking methods of different animals.[10] By depicting different animals like pythons, spoonbills, echidna, turtles, and knob-tailed geckos. In painting these animals, Maralngurra highlights the cultural nuances of how various groups view these animals, noting that while Dhuwa people refrain from consuming borlokko (python), Yirritja people do not have these same restrictions.[10]
Contact paintings
Between 2004 and 2007 Maralngurra produced a series of "contact paintings" exploring colonial events such as the arrival of anthropologists and missionaries to Gunbalanya. These pieces exhibit the coming together of different cultures and recognise the differences between each other's communities. Although seemingly different, this still follows Maralngurra's tendency to use art as a way of educating others and fill the gap between different communities. Specifically, in this series of paintings, he focuses on depicting Baldwin Spencer, who was the first anthropologist to visit the region of the Western Arnhem Land.[11] In 2003, Maralngurra showcased his first depiction of Baldwin Spencer to the world, depicting him standing face to face with an Aboriginal man, surrounded by objects that correspond to both of the men's cultures.[12] By doing this, art historian Henry Skerritt argues, Maralngurra is drawing attention to "the limits of communication and boundaries of exchange of visitors to his region."[13] Despite the success he had in gaining notoriety for these works, Maralngurra moved on from his "contact paintings" after 2007, which Henry Skerritt assumed to mean that this project was a "diversion from his primary artistic project."[14]
Maralngurra's art pieces are showcased in diverse collections both within the country and abroad, such as those at the Australian Museum, Museums Victoria, South Australian Museum, and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in the United States.[2] Some of his most notable contact paintings include Meeting of Bininj Elders and Balanda Visitors in 1948 (1948), Baldwin Spencer and Paddy Cahill (2003), and Bininj at the rock Art Shelter (2006). Many of these paintings were displayed at his solo exhibition Contact at the Mossenson Galleries in Melbourne in 2006.[citation needed]
Charlottesville exhibition
In January of 2020, Gabriel Manalngurra undertook residency at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.[15] During this time, Maralngurra and Joe Guymala visited Charlottesville to talk about and display their works in various locations across the city. This citywide exhibition consisted of more than 50 artists, five different locations, and about 200 pieces. One of the main centres for Aboriginal art in the world lies in the centre of Charlottesville: the Kluge-Rhue Aboriginal Art Collection.[16] It includes more than 2000 pieces of Indigenous art, and each year invites Aboriginal artists from various regions to visit, lead workshops, and provide classes to locals and UVA students. This was just one of the many locations the citywide exhibition took place.
Gabriel Maralngurra being interviewed by Sandy Hausman for WVTF Radio IQ for the exhibition "The Inside World: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Memorial Poles" at The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia.
Maralngurra played a large role in the exhibition located in the Fralin Museum located on the Grounds of the University of Virginia. Specifically, the exhibition located in the Fralin Museum, The Inside World: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Memorial Poles consisted of 112 memorial poles by 55 different artists from various regions of Arnhem Land, curated by Henry Skerritt.[16] Maralngurra collaborated with Skerritt, contributing to the exhibit by painting one of the displayed poles and creating a painting showcased in Jefferson's Rotunda.[16] The Aboriginal Memorial comprised hollow coffins decorated with clan designs, and signified the moment when the spirit of the deceased had finally returned home.[17] Maralngurra participated in a group of six memorial poles from his region that were done using Earth pigments on wood and included images such as the mimih spirit. The art is not only in the painting on the wooden logs, but also the difficult process of harvesting the logs. According to Maralngurra, the purpose of bringing this work to Charlottesville is to share and promote their strong culture from the other side of the world.[18]
Maralngurra displayed another piece of rock art style called "Kunwardde Bim Kakukyime" that hung on the walls of the Rotunda on the university grounds . This piece is the perfect example of how Maralngurra incorporates local figures such as the brolga bird and the mimih spirit to further connect his artwork to his country and its inhabitants. Kunwardde Bim Kakukyime (Rock Art Style) illustrates a wide range of overlapping animals specific to his region in various shades of red, white, yellow, and even some blue. The brolga positioned slightly left of the centre of the image is known to be a hunting prize for the people in his community. He executes this depiction of the bird in x-ray style, meaning he includes the imagery of the internal organs and bone structure of the animal. The incorporation of the anatomical features of the bird proves how well connected he is with the inhabitants of his land. in the bottom left corner, he includes a Mimih Spirit which is said to have taught his people many of the skills they would have needed to survive such as hunting. This organised chaos shows how he uses a variety of figures and colours to represent the identity of his community in a unique way.
Other roles
Maralngurra is also a tour guide, translator, Injalak Hill Board member and president. His strong presence in Australia has led him to travel often throughout the region and abroad for the past twenty-five years.
Awards
2006: Best Indigenous Artist during the 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival[19]
2020 Munguyhmunguyh (Forever): Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the John W. Kluge Injalak Commission, The Upper West Oval Room of The Rotunda at the University of Virginia[23]
2006: Making Contact. Solo Exhibition. Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne, September 26–October 22, 2006.
2006 Wet and Dry, Indigenart Gallery, Perth WA
2006 24th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, Darwin NT
2006 The Second Peter Baillie Acquisitive Award, Flinders University, Adelaide SA
2005 Concord, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2004 21st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2003 Art Mob Exhibition Tasmania
2003 20th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2001 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
1998 Desert Designs Japingka Gallery, Perth WA
1996 Framed Gallery, Darwin NT
1995 21st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
1995 The Twelfth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition,, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Darwin
1994 Aboriginal & Tribal Art Gallery The Rocks Sydney NSW
1993 Editions, Southbank, Melbourne Vic
1993 Hogarth Aboriginal and Tribal Art Gallery
1993 Stories, Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art Kerava Art
1993 Helsinki and Rovaniemi Art Museum Lappland, Finland
1993 Burukmarri Gallery, Fremantle WA
Related Research Articles
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↑ Skerritt, Henry F.; Nevada Museum of Art; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; Fralin Museum of Art; Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, eds. (2019). The inside world: contemporary Aboriginal Australian memorial poles from the Debra and Dennis Scholl collection. [Reno]: Munich; New York: Nevada Museum of Art; DelMonico Books·Prestel. ISBN978-3-7913-5816-1.
"Down under, up above: A wealth of Indigenous Australian art comes to Charlottesville this winter". C-VILLE Weekly. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
Hausman, Sandy. "Aboriginal Art Is Center Stage in Charlotteville". www.wvtf.org. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
Skerritt, Henry. ""Is Art History Any Use to Aboriginal Artists? Gabriel Maralngurra's Contact Paintings."". Double Desire: Transculturation and Indigenous Contemporary Art, edited by Ian McLean, 223-241. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.
Loos, Ted (2020-03-10). "Richly Decorated Memorials Emerge From Ancient Traditions". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
Sanz, Inés Domingo; Fiore, Dánae; May, Sally K. (2016-07). Archaeologies of Art: Time, Place, and Identity. Routledge. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
“Seeing Through Spencer: Gabriel Maralngurra's Paintings of Baldwin Spencer.” Pacific Arts: The Journal of the Pacific Arts Association, 14, no.1-2 (2015): 106–119.
"Stay Local, Play Local: Aboriginal Art on Display". www.cbs19news.com. Retrieved 2020-03-30
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