Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi (born in 1967) is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist born in the Papunya community, she followed in her father Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's footsteps and became an internationally respected painter. Examples of her work are held in many gallery collections in Australia and elsewhere, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Flinders University Art Museum, the Kelton Foundation Collection, the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the Royal Collection.[1]
Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1967 (age 56–57) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | contemporary Indigenous Australian art |
Early life
editGabriella Possum Nungurrayi is the eldest daughter of Indigenous Australian artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Born in 1967 in Papunya, around 2.4 km northwest of Alice Springs in the community formed in the 1930s when Pintupi and Luritja people were forced off their traditional land and moved into Hermannsburg and Haasts Bluff. Her language is Anmatyerre.[2] She spent her early life in Alice Springs, where she began painting with her father from a very young age.[3][4][5]
Career
edit
When she was 16 In 1985, Nungurrayi won the Alice Springs Art Award.[3]
Throughout her life Nungurrayi has been exhibiting work in Australia and overseas. In 1991 Nungurrayi received a Professional Development Grant from the Aboriginal Arts Unit of the Australia Council for the Arts, which helped her to develop her recognisable style showing dotted landscapes featuring elements such as bush foods familiar to her people. As her work was shown at higher profile galleries, collectors became interested in her work.[6]
As indigenous art from Australia gained more recognition, Nungurrayi's talent was recognised in a number of international shows. In 2006, she was one of the 33 artists showing at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, which was the first major US presentation of art by indigenous women in Australia.[7] In 2010 Nungurrayi showed work in the Down Under Gallery in Munich, Germany.[8]
In 2008 Nungurrayi's work found an international audience when celebrity gardener Jamie Durie won the Gold Medal in the Chelsea Flower Show. When HRH Queen Elizabeth gave Durie the prize she was presented with an original work by the artist, which now hangs in the royal collection alongside that of her father.[9][10]
At the 2014 Melbourne festival her work was used to decorate a tram as part of a major public art project called Melbourne Art Trams.[11]
At Vivid Sydney 2016, Nungurrayi's work was selected by director of the "Lighting of the Sails" installation, meaning her images were projected onto the Sydney Opera House along with five other Indigenous artists, Karla Dickens, Djon Mundine, Reko Rennie, Donny Woolagoodja, and Gulumbu Yunupingu.[12]
Her sister, Michelle Possum Nungurrayi is also a renowned artist. They exhibited together in 2017 at the Japingka gallery in Perth in 2017.[13]
Personal life
editSince the early 2000s, Nungurrayi has lived near to Melbourne with her family.[14] The sale of her father's piece "Warlugulong" earned her significant resale royalty, which was seen as a fitting change made possible by the Australian resale royalty right movement, which sought to prevent financial exploitation of indigenous artists.[5][15] Danny Ramzan of the Australian hip hop group Yung Warriors is Nungurrayi's son.[16]
References
edit- ^ "Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi (b. 1967) - Grandmothers Country - Bush Tucker Dreaming and Yams". Royal_Collection Trust. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Stourton, Patrick Corbally; Stourton, Nigel Corbally (1996). Songlines and Dreamings: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Painting: The First Quarter Century of Papunya Tula. London: Lund Humphries. p. 66. ISBN 9780853316916. OCLC 35641332. Retrieved 21 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Artist Biography - Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi". Kate Owen Gallery. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ Johnson, Vivien (2010). Once Upon a Time in Papunya. University of New South Wales Press. p. 23. ISBN 9781742240138. OCLC 704284235. Retrieved 20 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b BOLAND, MICHAELA. "Possum first to receive royalty from artwork resale scheme". Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Newstead, Adrian (2014). The Dealer is the Devil: An Insiders History of the Aboriginal Art Trade. Blackheath, Australia: Brandl & Schlesinger. pp. 217–218. ISBN 9781921556449. OCLC 874178393 – via Google Books.
- ^ Kennedy, Brian P.; Boles, Margo Smith; Konau, Britta (2006). Dreaming Their Way: Australian Aboriginal Women Painters. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of Women in the Arts. pp. 56–57. ISBN 9781857594423. OCLC 71788898. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Aboriginal art gallery in Munich". Aboriginal Art Directory. 1 August 2010. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Newstead, Adrian (26 May 2008). "Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi 1967: Top 200 Australian Aboriginal Artists". Aboriginal Art Directory. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Gadd, Denise (15 March 2008). "Durie's out on how to make gardeners love the natives". The Age. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Spring, Alexandra (24 October 2014). "Melbourne festival 2014: one perfect day". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Taylor, Andrew (27 May 2016). "Vivid Sydney 2016: Lighting of the Sails at the Sydney Opera House". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ "Talking about Country – Possum Sisters - Exhibition at Japingka". Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery. 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "Desert Paintings: Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi: Grandmother's Gold Country". Aboriginal Dreaming Gallery. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Rimmer, Matthew (2015). Indigenous Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 218. ISBN 9781781955901. OCLC 945585944 – via Google Books.
- ^ Minestrelli, Chiara (2016). Australian Indigenous Hip Hop: The Politics of Culture, Identity, and Spirituality. London: Routledge. p. 116. ISBN 9781317217534. OCLC 1240713568 – via Google Books.