Nyapanyapa Yunupi\u

Biography / Bibliography / Collections / Awards

Biography

Nyapanyapa is quite remarkable. She is perhaps the artist of the region most remote from the market she creates for. In this sense her art is really quite pure for it is without any consideration or desire to understand what happens beyond point of sale to her art centre. Through a building interest in her work these things may change. She is a widow, a wife of the late Djapu clan leader Djiriny Mununggurr who died in 1977. Her early life was spent with her father Munggurrawuy Yunupingu a renowned artists and father of two Australians of the Year (Her brothers Galarrwuy and Mandawuy). She is a ceremonial woman and a battler without material possession. She is a classificatory sister to star artist Gulumbu and traveled once to Adelaide for the 2005 Festival with her kin for a critically acclaimed crying performance in honour of her deceased sister and senior artist Gaymala. She is small in stature and has been quite deaf for a long time. She was badly gored by a buffalo in the 1970s at Mutpi near Garrthalala which required her medical evacuation to Darwin which was more rare in those days. Although childless she has helped to raise many children and is almost always in company with one of her sisters, usually Barrupu but sometimes Djakangu. She embodies uncomplaining humble persistence in her gentle subsistence lifestyle. Nyapanyapa’s prints, especially her whacky and boldly coloured screen prints have been a hit for 10 years. Lots of her editions have been in many exhibitions around the world. She started to paint on bark in 2007. Shortly after this she was exhibited in the Telstra Award and accepted to hold her first solo exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in September 2008. She won the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Prize in Telstra NATSIAA 2008. She continued to paint at Buku during 2009 and exhibited at Nomad in Darwin.

Bibliography

2008 Etched in the Sun Prints made by Indigenous artists in collaboration with Basil Hall & Printers 1997-2007 ANU, Canberra Nhama: Short Films from Yirrkala North East Arnhem Land.

Collections

Art Gallery of NSW Roslyn and Tony Oxley, Sydney, NSW Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin, NT National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT

Awards

Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award 25th Jubilee NATSIAA 2008 MAGNT Darwin.

Birany Birany