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BIOGRAPHY
Maureen
Morgan Napaltjarri
pays particular attention to details,
creating superb, most inspiring paintings.
Her paintings
with subtle shades of colour
and intricate details, and
multi dimensionality have the
powerful
physicality of
much contemporary work of art.
Maureen
Morgan Napaltjarri
experiments with colour and shapes keeping the traditional content of
the stories.
Maureen paints
first-rate paintings with the intricate details and subtle shades that
float and move with the viewer’s eyes. Her paintings have the physical
presence of much contemporary work of art. Completed with tiny dots her
paintings have fascinating accuracy and also, powerful and inspiring and
multi dimensional impression. Maureen
experiments with colour and shapes keeping the traditional content of
the stories. Her
paintings describe Shorty
Lungkata Dreamings
in the Australian Western desert
with sand hills and its winds, the rainfall and the desert surroundings
after the rain in its natural world.
Though Maureen
Morgan
paintings with
her intricate details and subtle shades of colour can not be easily
replicated via a digital image as they loose it via internet transfer.
Due to the digital transfer
process via the internet it
is difficult to observe the quality of
her work and the details of the paintings on the website. The digital
transfer does not allow for the accuracy and the physicality of the work
of art, neither the powerful and moving multi dimensionality of
Maureen Morgan
work.
Maureen Morgan was born circa 1970 at
Papunya Community. Maureen
is the youngest daughter of revered artist of Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi from the
Papunya movement, he was one of the first masters who was involved with
the Aboriginal art movement.
He was
Maureen
Morgan
teacher and coaching her in art ideas, philosophy, beliefs and
principles of painting his ancient family Dreamings.
Shorty
Lungkata Tjungurrayi was a man of
extraordinary presence
and
quiet
self-assurance. He grew up in the desert before travelling to Ikuntji
(Haasts Bluff) around 1950. While he had a longer period of contact with
non-Aboriginal people than some other Pintupi men of his age, he made
attempt to
learn
English.
In 1960 he moved over the MacDonnell Ranges to Papunya, where the new
settlement had been created. By the 1970s
Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi
was a powerful and sometimes feared
ngangkari (traditional doctor) as well as a a renowned Australian
artist. At Papunya, the Pintupi were marginalized, and there was almost
continuous conflict between the people of various language groups
clustered around the settlement. Lungkata was a forceful advocate for
his people and more than once would proclaim his rights in a dance with
spears in front of a large crowd in the community canteen. Because of
the dire living conditions, he and his family chose to live on
successive outstations to the west of the settlement, towards his
traditional country.
Shorty
Lungkata Dreamings
From the
mid-1970s, Lungkata's works became increasingly elaborate. His paintings
often featured multiple sets of looping crescents building from a steady
centre. In some instances he employed subtle modulations of tone and
colour to support the pulsing rhythm of a work. During this phase, he
was the only Papunya Tula artist to begin his roundels with ovals rather
than circles, giving his painting an attenuated, slightly convex feel.
By the end of the decade, he was creating monumental, authoritative
works that were comprehensive representations of the several Tjukurrpa
that cross his traditional country. His greatest works were created when
the market demand for Western Desert art had not yet been realised and,
consequently, Lungkata's significance as an artist should not be
underestimated by the relative scarcity of his work.
John
Kean in 'Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia', Art Gallery of
New South Wales, Sydney, 2004
Lungkata began painting in the Australian summer of 1971-72. His
paintings are intensely concentrated; their energies are contained and
inwardly focused. 'Women's dreaming (Two women)', 1972, is a magnificent
example of his earliest work. It is spare and powerful, but with subtle
details such as the interlocking of the dotted
Her family later moved to Warren Creek
Outstation around 15 kilometers West of Mt Liebig, Maureen lives at
Warren Creek with all her family including her son and most other family
members. Warren Creek is rich with Bush Tucker and Maureen still looks for
Honey ants and witcherty Grubs on the weekends.
Maureen
began painting with her father
Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, a famous
Australian artist
(one
of the first masters who was involved with the Aboriginal art movement)
and later for the
Watiyawanu Artists of
Amunturrngu Community Centre.
Maureen
Morgan Napaltjarriis
an important member of the Watiyawanu Artists of Amunturrngu community
centre.
She has a promising career and is sought after solo exhibitions.
She works for
Watiyawanu Artists of Mt Liebig. Some of the most interesting Aboriginal
art today is coming from the Mt Liebig community - 325kms west of Alice
Springs in the heart of the Western Desert. Leading artists represented
in the exhibition include the highly acclaimed Lilly Kelly Napangardi
and Wentja Napaltjarri Two.
One of Maureen’s exciting exhibition was
to be selected for the prestigious
23rd Telstra NATSIAA
2005
Telstra Australian National Aboriginal
Art Award (NATSIA)
in the
Museum & Art Gallery Northern
Territory (Darwin).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2005 -
23rd
Telstra NATSIAA
Telstra National
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA)
2004 - Mary Place (Melbourne);
2003 - Exhibition
Chapel of Chapel (Melbourne);
2002 - Exhibition High on art
(Melbourne).
NATSIAA
Art Award
The Award was established in
1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The aim of the Award
is to recognise the important contribution made by
Indigenous artists and to promote appreciation and
understanding of the quality and diversity of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander art from regional and urban based
Indigenous artists throughout Australia, working in
traditional and contemporary media. The Award is an
important showcase for both established and emerging artists
and has come to be regarded as one of the premier national
events in the Australian Indigenous art calendar. The Award
attracts a range of Indigenous artists from all parts of the
country and about 100 works are selected each year from
around 300 entries. The diversity and style of work
submitted each year reflects the changing face of
contemporary Aboriginal art practice. Telstra has sponsored
the Award since 1992 and has continued to further enhance
its profile and prestige. In 2000, Telstra doubled the First
Prize money from $20,000 to $40,000 and in 2005 Telstra
announced its ongoing support for the Award amounting to a
total of over $1 million in sponsorship over the next five
years. In 2006, the Telstra First Prize was re-named the
Telstra Award and all prizes became non-acquisitive. The
four categories in which prizes are awarded are:
-
the Telstra General
Painting Award
-
the Telstra Bark Painting
Award
-
the Telstra Work on Paper
Award
-
the Wandjuk Marika 3D
Memorial Award (sponsored by Telstra)
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