Mawukura, also known as Jimmy Nerrimah (c.1924–2013), was an Australian Aboriginal artist.

Life and career

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Mawukura was a Walmadjari man. His country is around Wayampajarti, a permanent waterhole in the north-western area of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia.[1]

His works have been sold to overseas collectors and are represented in the National Gallery of Australia[2][3] and many other collections.

Buck–Milgin case

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Nerrimah was in a relationship with Julie Buck – more than 40 years his junior – prior to her disappearance from Looma in 1993; her body was found the following year. Buck was also romantically involved with Richard Milgin, who disappeared around the same time. In 2016, a cold case homicide investigation by Western Australia Police named Nerrimah as one of three suspects in the two disappearances, along with his close friend John Watson and Watson's son Anthony.[4] In 2023, Buck's best friend Lisa Skinner gave evidence before a coronial inquest that Nerrimah had beaten Buck on multiple occasions.[5]

Exhibitions

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Solo shows
  • 1999 Artplace, Perth
  • 1994 Artplace, Perth
  • 1994 Reflections of the Kimberley Gallery, Derby, WA
  • 1993 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
  • 2001 Artplace, Perth[6]
  • 2003 Cooee Gallery Sydney
  • 2003 Artplace, Perth
  • 2004 45 Downstairs Gallery, Melbourne
  • 2005 Artplace, Perth
  • 2005 Raft Artspace, Darwin
Group shows
  • 1999 Selected to hang in 16th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Darwin, Northern Territory
  • 1999 Aboriginal Kunst aus West Australien, Galerie Gaswerk, Germany
  • 1999 Cooee Gallery Sydney with Peter Skipper
  • 1994 ACAF-4, Fourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
  • 1994 Eight Western Australian Artists, The Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
  • 1994 City of Gosnells Art Award, Art Prize
  • 2001 Ngurrara Canvas National Gallery of Australia
  • 2001 Framed Gallery, Darwin
  • 2001 Cooee Gallery Sydney with Peter Skipper
  • 2016 Billabong Dreams, Seattle Art Museum[7]

Collections

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References

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  1. ^ Mangkaja: MAWUKURA JIMMY NERRIMAH profile
  2. ^ "Crack shot on canvas". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 November 2003. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Mulgra (Mawukura) Jimmy Nerrimah". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  4. ^ Baker, Richard (19 July 2018). "Artist Jimmy was promised a young bride. She was in love, but not with him". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Richard Milgin inquest: Julie Buck's 'promised' husband beat her with stick before disappearance, court heard". The West Australian. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  6. ^ Ferrier, Evi (2001), Mulgra Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah, Artplace, Perth, 1-25 November 2001, 2001, retrieved 10 March 2015
  7. ^ "Billabong Dreams". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 18 February 2017.

Further reading

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  • 1994 Road O'Brien Playful Air to Dottiness of Bushcapes The West Australian, 19 May 1994
  • 1995 Anna King Murdoch Late Starter Tells Desert Story in Bright Acrylics The Age 3 December 1995
  • 1998 Jila Painted Waters of the Great Sandy Desert Video documentary / SBS Television
  • Kleinert, Sylvia; Neale, Margo; Bancroft, Robyne (2000), The Oxford companion to Aboriginal art and culture, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-550649-5