KUDDITJII KNGWARREYE
Born: circa 1928, Boundary Bore, Northern Territory
Kudditji Kngwarreye, was born around 1928 at Boundary Bore, Utopia, north east of Alice Springs. The younger brother of the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Kudditji is an Anmatyerre elder and custodian of many important Emu Dreamings for the ceremonial sites located in his country at Utopia Station in the Northern Territory.
Like many similar men of his generation he lived a traditional bush life as a child and made a valuable contribution to the stockman's profession and also sought employment in the mines prior to developing his painting and settling on an artistic career. Kudditji has actively painted since 1986, initially inspired by the work originating in Papunya.
His early distinctively articulate dot paintings referenced the important men's ceremonial Dreamings at his homeland, Boundary Bore. In the mid 1990’s Kudditji took a radical path and began to experiment with paint to eradicate his earlier pointillist style. He used a heavily loaded paint brush to sweep broadly across the canvas in stages, as though he was actually walking his landscape, painting the elemental aspects of his Dreamings as he mentally traversed the country. This new technique creates a sense of immense space, where massive blocks of stippled colour are laid alongside each other. The palette is surprising; sometimes only one or two colours are used to enhance the sense of timelessness in the land, while in other paintings a quilt of juxtaposed colours produces an aerial landscape effect. His most recent paintings amplify a bold architectural style, fusing the borders of earth, water and sky, resulting in a dramatic restaging of the colour and form of the desert landscape.
Kudditji Kngwarreye has exhibited in major galleries throughout Australia and internationally, and is widely represented in the collections of Macquarie University, NSW and the Araluen Centre in Alice Springs.
Exhibitions
2006: Masterwork, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2006: Kudditji Kngwarreye: New Paintings, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2005: Waterhole Aboriginal Art, Danks Street, Sydney.
2005: New Paintings, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2005: Colours in Country, Art Mob, Hobart, Tasmania
2004: Waterhole Aboriginal Art, Sofitel Wentworth Hotel Exhibition, Sydney
2004: My Country, New Paintings, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2004: My Country, Japingka Gallery, Perth
2003: New Paintings, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
1992: Tjukurrpa, Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basel
1991: Central Australian Aboriginal Art & Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1990: Art Dock, Contemporary Art from Australia, Noumea, New Caledonia