George Tjungurrayi was born in the desert in the vicinity of Kiwirrkura. His ancestral country covers the sites around Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya to the north-west of Kintore across the West Australian border.

First painting as an apprentice to senior men of the original Papunya Tula artists, George very quickly developed his own distinctive style.    He has become known for his optically entrancing minimalistic abstraction which evokes the highly sacred journey of the mythical 'Tingari'. The journeys of the Tingari men and women across the country, performing ceremony, forming the land, creating certain sites and rituals are of a highly secret nature preserved within song. As they are of a secret nature, the general public are not privy to further information.

This painting is of the wind markings in the sandhills of the desert.  George Tjungurrayi was born in Pintupi country across the Western Australia border circa 1947.  He began painting in West Camp in Papunya around 1976 for Papunya Tula Artists and continued painting while residing at Yai Yai, Warawa, Mount Liebig and Kintore.  His ancestral country covers the sites around Wala Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya to the north-west of Kintore.  George paints the Tingari stories for this region.

Having had notable solo exhibitions at major Australian galleries in the late 1990's, George was voted one of the '50 Most Collectable Artists' by Australian Art Collector magazine in 2003. 

COLLECTIONS :

National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Victoria

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Queensland Gallery

Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France

Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

Robert Holmes à Court Collection

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin

Griffith University Art Collection

Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, USA

University of Virginia, USA

Groninger Museum, The Netherlands

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020 The Iconic George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi exhibition, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery, Melbourne

2018 George Tjungurrayi: Major Works, Utopia Art, Sydney

2016 Paintings, Utopia Art, Sydney

2016 Desert Line, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2013 Pulka Canvas, Utopia Art, Sydney

2011 Space and Place, Utopia Art, Sydney

2008 Between the lines, Utopia Art, Sydney

2003 Paintings from Mamultjulkulnga and Kirrimalunya, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2002 Utopia Art, Sydney

2002 New Fields, Utopia Art, Sydney

1998 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1997 George Tjungurrayi - first solo show, Utopia Art, Sydney

1989 - 2002 Unforeseen , FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 Utopia Art Sydney turns 35, Utopia Art, Sydney

2022 Primavera, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2022 Australian Indigenous Art from the SmithDavidson Collection, Smith Davidson Gallery, New York

2022 Great Australian Painting, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2022 Nations 2022, Art Mob, at the Henry Jones Art Hotel Packing Room, Hobart

2022 Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Part 2, Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, USA

2022 Significant 2022, D'Lan Davidson, Melbourne

2022 Sandhill Country | Paintings of Inland Australia, Japingka Gallery, Freemantle

2021 Director's Cut: 2021, Harvey Art Projects USA, Ketchum, ID, USA

2021 Community XII - 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2021 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2021 papunya tula | fifty years, Harvey Arts Projects, Sun Valley, ID, USA

2021 Country in Mind, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD

2021 SIGNIFICANT, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne

2021 The McClelland Collection: 50 Years, McClelland Sculpture Park & Gallery, Langwarrin, VIC

2021 Papunya Tula: 50 years 1971-2021, S.H. Erwin Gallery, Sydney

2020 Grounded, Masterworks from Indigenous Australia, Harvey Art Projects, Ketchum, ID, USA

2020 Sydney Contemporary 2020, Sydney

2020 Desert Painters of Australia - Two Generations, Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong

2020 Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart

2020 Desert Stories, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin

2020 Reflections on Emily and Papunya, High Line Nine Galleries, New York

2020 Pintupi Masters - Enduring Dreamings, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2020 Director's Choice 2020, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2020 Spring, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2020 Papunya, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne

2020 Linesmen, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2019 Grand Old Men - a survey exhibition, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin

2019 Desert Painters of Australia: Works form the Kluge-Ruhe Collection of the University of Virginia and the Collection of Steve Martin & Anne Stringfield, Gagosian Gallery, New York, and Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles

2019 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney

2019 defining tradition | black + white, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2019 Community X, Utopia Art, Sydney

2019 Pintupi Artists of the Western Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle

2019 Celebrating Australian Abstraction, Utopia Art, Sydney

2019 Significant, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne

2018 Anniversary Group Show I: Country Lines, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2018 Superposition: Equilibrium and Engagement, 21st Biennale of Sydney, Carriageworks, Sydney

2018 Community IX, Utopia Art, Sydney

2017 Gems of the Stockroom, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2017 Masters, Utopia Art, Sydney

2017 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney

2017 Along the Lines, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2017 Duddell's x Biennale of Sydney, Abstraction of the World, Duddell's, Hong Kong, curated by Mami Kataoka

2017 Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

2017 Community VIII, Utopia Art, Sydney

2017 Museum III, Utopia Art, Sydney

2017 Alternative Museum, Utopia Art, Sydney

2016 Landstract Abscape, Utopia Art, Sydney

2016 Cornucopia, Utopia Art, Sydney

2015 Community VII, Utopia Art, Sydney

2015 Collectible, Utopia Art, Sydney

2015 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney

2015 Wynners, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2014 Abstraction, Utopia, Art, Sydney

2014 Community VI, Utopia Art, Sydney

2014 Sublime Point: the Landscape in Painting, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Hazelhurst, NSW

2013 The Salon, Utopia Art, Sydney

2013 Painting Now, Utopia Art, Sydney

2013 No Boundaries, Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre, Melbourne

2013 Landscape, Utopia Art, Sydney

2013 Community V, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Abstraction, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Volume One: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

2012 Classic Works from Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle

2012 Interconnected, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Reportoire, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Community IV, Celebrating 40 years of Paumya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2012 Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

2011 Up Close and Personal: works from the collection of Dr Peter Elliott AM, S. H. Ervin Gallery,

Sydney

2011 AAA - Australian Abstract Art, Utopia Art, Sydney

2011 40 years of Papunya Tula Art, Utopia Art, Sydney

2011 Pintupi Art 2011, A P Bond Gallery, Adelaide

2011 Papunya Tula Artists - Community III, Utopia Art, Sydney

2010 Museum III, Utopia Art, Sydney

2010 Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

2010 Papunya Tula Artists Now, Utopia Art, Sydney

2010 Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

2010 Ngurra Kutju Ngurrara - Belonging To One Country, ReDot Gallery, Singapore

2010 The Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

2010 Wilkinkarralakutu - Journeys To Lake Mackay, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin

2010 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin

2010 Aboriginal Art 2010, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne

2010 Tradition & Innovation - Papunya Tula 2010, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2010 Recent Paintings, Chapman Gallery, Canberra

2009 Nganana Tjungurrayi Tjukurrpa Nintintjakitja: We are Here Sharing our Dreaming, East Galleries, New York

2009 Papunya Tula Classics, Utopia Art Sydney

2009 Papunya 2009: Senior Pintupi Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2009 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, The Chan Building, Bennett Park Darwin

2009 Painting the Country, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin

2009 Pintupi 2009, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2009 Community - The Heart of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2009 Nganampatju Kanpatja Winki, Nganampatju Yara Winkii - All Our Paintings, All Our Stories, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2008 Ngurra Yurru Kulintjaku - Always Remembering Country, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin

2008 David Larwill and the Western Desert Artists, Stephan Wiess Studio, New York

2008 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Convention Centre, Darwin

2008 Aboriginal Art 2008, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne

2008 The Desert Mob Show, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

2008 20 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2008 Pintupi Art 2008, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2008 Kintore to Kiwirrkura - Papunya Tula Artists, ReDot Gallery, Singapore

2008 TogArt Contemporary Art Award, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

2007 Big Paintings by Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2007 Group Show, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2007 Papunya Tula 2007, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2007 Aboriginal Art 2007, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne

2007 Recent Paintings 2007, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin

2007 Pintupi Art 2007, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2007 Pintupi - Mixed Exhibition, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2006 A Particular Collection, Utopia Art, Sydney

2006 Well Represented, Utopia Art, Sydney

2006 Papunya Tula Artists - Recent Paintings, Harriet Place, Darwin

2006 Pintupi Art 2006, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2006 Melbourne Art Fair 2006, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

2006 Western Desert Satellites, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

2006 Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney

2006 across the board, Utopia Art, Sydney

2006 Aboriginal Art 2006, Scott Livesey Gallery, Melbourne

2006 Pintupi, Hamiltons Gallery, London

2006 Pintupi Dreamtime, ReDot Gallery, Singapore

2006 Yawulyurru kapalilu palyara nintilpayi, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2005 New Works From The Western Desert, Indigenart, Perth

2005 Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2005 Papunya Tula Artists - new work for a new space, Utopia Art, Sydney

2005 Museum II, Utopia Art Sydney

2005 Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2005 Aboriginal Art 2005, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne

2005 Pintupi Art 2005, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2004 Melbourne Art Fair 2004, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

2004 Peintres Pintupi, Galerie DAD, Mantes-la-Jolie, France

2004 Pintupi Art 2004, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2004 Papunya Tula Artists - 2004, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2004 All About Papunya, Chapman Gallery Canberra

2004 Talking About Abstraction, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts - University of NSW, Sydney

2004 The Inner And The Outer, Stadtgalerie Bamberg, Villa Dessauer, Bamberg, Germany

2004 Aboriginal Art 2004, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne

2004 Ma Yungu/Pass It On, Framed Gallery, Darwin

2004 Looking Closely At Country, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts - University of Sydney, NSW

2004 Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2004 Mythology & Reality, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

2003 Pintupi Art 2003, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2003 Aboriginal Art 2003, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne

2003 Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2003 Masterpieces From The Western Desert, Gavin Graham Gallery, London

2003 Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2002 The Year In Review, Utopia Art, Sydney

2002 Meridian: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

2002 Structures of Difference, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA

2002 The Year in Art. S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

2002 Melbourne Art Fair 2002, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

2002 Lines II, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2002 Next Generation - Aboriginal Art 2002, Art House Gallery, Sydney

2002 Paintings From Our Country, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2002 Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2002 Aboriginal Art 2002, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne

2002 William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

2001 Museum, Utopia Art, Sydney

2001 Dreamtime: the Dark and the Light, Kunst der Gegenwart, Sammlung Essl, Vienna, Austria

2001 AMG Gallery, Paris

2001 Palm Beach Art Fair, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2001 Papunya Tula 2001, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

2001 Art of the Pintupi, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide

2001 Kintore, Kiwirrkura, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

2001 Art Aborigene, Musee Olympic, Lausanne, Switzerland

2001 Pintupi Exhibition, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2001 Dreamtime - Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Essl Collection, Vienna, Austria

2001 In Concert, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra

2001 Aborigena, Palazzo Bricherasio, Torino, Italy

2001 Unforseen - George Tjungurrayi & Matthew Johnson, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2000 Melbourne Art Fair 2000, Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne

2000 Papunya Tula Artists NOW, Utopia Art Sydney

2000 Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

2000 Lines, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2000 Landscape, Utopia Art, Sydney

2000 Aboriginal Art Select Works, Kozminsky Gallery and Fine Art Dealers, Melbourne

2000 Aboriginal Art, Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer, Germany

2000 Pintupi Men, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

2000 Aboriginal Art 2000, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne

1999 My Dreaming, Redrock Gallery, Melbourne

1999 Ab Op, Utopia Art, Sydney

1999 New Horizons 2000, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1998 Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC

1998 Culture Store, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

1998 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1997 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1997 Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

1996 5th Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

1996 C.A.A.A.C.E., Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs

1996 Pintupi Painters, Papunya Tula Artists Gallery, Alice Springs

1996 Museums & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin

1996 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

1996 Fringe Festival, Adelaide

1996 Return from the Art Fair, Utopia Art, Sydney

1995 Museums & Art Galleries of the N.T. Darwin, NT

1994 Black and White, Utopia Art, Sydney

1994 Group Show, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

1994 Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands

1994 The Pintupi, Utopia Art, Sydney

1994 Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

1994 Chapman Gallery, Canberra

1994 Galerie Australis, Adelaide

1994 Dreamtime Gallery, Broadbeach, QLD

1993 Chapman Gallery, Canberra

1992 Dreamtime Gallery, Broadbeach, QLD

1990 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs