Charlie Tjapangati

DOB: c.1949
Born: Jupiter well, near Kiwirrkurra, WA
Region: Pintupi
Language: Pintupi

About Artist:

Charlie Tjapangati was born in c.1949 at Palinpalintjanya which is located north west of Juniper Well. In 1964 as a fully initiated young man he moved with his family to Papunya. It was here that he found himself working in construction of the settlement in exchange for rations.

Charlie commenced painting for Papanya Tula in 1978, after quietly observing the older men for years. He travelled to the USA for an exhibition in the following years with well-known Aboriginal Artist Billy Stockman.

In 1982 Charlie moved to the Pintupi settlement of Kintore. His works generally depict the significant ceremonial story of the Tingari Cycle. The surface narrative elements that are often termed the painting's 'story' or 'Dreaming' are only one level of an Aboriginal painting's true significance. The imagery employed by Aboriginal artists has a deep cultural resonance that often defies simple logic or narrative interpretation. The western viewer can, however, intuitively feel the power of this spiritual resonance without necessarily having to understand the details, which are essentially for the initiated only.

Collections:
Art bank, Sydney:
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide.
National gallery of Australia
Museums & Art galleries of the Northern Territory
Victoria Art Centre
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.
Aboriginal Art Museum, Netherlands
University of Virginia USA
Kelton Foundation Collection


Exhibitions of his work include:
1980, Contemporary Australian Aborigine Paintings, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California, USA;
1981, Australian Perspecta, A Biennial Survey of Contemporary Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney ;
1982, Brisbane Festival, Brisbane; 1982, Georges Exhibition, Melbourne;
1983, Mori Gallery, Sydney; 1989, Masterpiece Fine Art Gallery, Hobart.
1990, Paintings from the Desert, Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings, Plimsoll Gallery, Centre for the Arts, Hobart, Tasmania;
1992, Crossroads-Towards a New Reality, Aboriginal Art from Australia, National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo
2004 - 21st Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; Papunya Tula Artists - new work for a new space, Utopia Art Sydney; Rising Stars Papunya, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.
2006 - Papunya Tula Artists - across the board, Utopia Arts Sydney, Sydney; Rising Stars 2006, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne.

Auction Details:
Title: Untitled (Tingari)
Details: Acrylic on canvas, 95 x 130 cm
Auction Price: $12,652
Auction House: Gaia Auction, Aboriginal Art, Paris, 14/05/2011, Lot No. 13

53 works listed from the 1970's onwards