Simon Tjakamarra

Tingarri Camp at Pilintjinya

1988

By the 1990s, many Pintupi artists began featuring dazzling optical effects in their paintings to hint at the spiritual essence that animates the land. This painting shows Pintupi art at a crossroads. While Tjakamarra’s composition is radically simplified from that of earlier painters, he retains the classic motif of connected concentric circles. The mirage-like shimmer in this painting became a defining feature of Western Desert paintings in the following decade as artists created increasingly abstract compositions and moved away from the forms and symbols that defined early Papunya painting.

Language Group: Pintupi
Dates: c. 1948-1990

Simon Tjakamarra was born at Kulkurta, a younger brother of Yanatjarri Tjakamarra. In 1966, he and his family walked towards Papunya before meeting the Welfare Patrol who led them to the settlement. In 1976, he was living in the Yayayi outstation when he felt inspired to paint after observing the older artists. After settling in Kintore a few years later, he began to paint more consistently and would often contribute work to Papunya Tula Artists. Simon painted Tingarri stories from his birth site, and water sites in the nearby sandhills. He is most recognized for developing Pintupi conventions into more rhythmic, optical patterns by utilizing the contrast between black and gold paint.

SIMON TJAKAMARRA, Tingarri Camp at Pilintjinya, 1988

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 71 1/2 × 47 3/4 in. (181.61 × 121.29 cm). Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1989.7004.014.

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