“In the case of the works in this show, the Gumatj clan sacred design which Wanapati explores is gurtha or fire. But not just any fire. This is a Fire of supernatural intensity. So powerful that it transforms the land it touched for all time. Its identity is etched into every atom of Gumatj land […]
… the stunning set-up for Wanapati Yunupiŋu’s first ever solo exhibition (Melbourne or otherwise), sets a special corner of the [Melbourne Art] Fair on fire. The south looked jealously to the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art in Darwin late last year when the exhibition Murrŋiny surveyed eight artists from Yirrkala, all working in the medium […]
For the 2024 Melbourne Art Fair, Yunupinju has made a series of Gurtha or depictions of the fires lit at the end of the dry season to burn off dead growth. As with Mawurndjul’s ‘Nawarramulmul’, we might say that this fire will briefly flare up and then die. We might even see the work as an allegory of […]
Tolarno Galleries, in partnership with Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre, is delighted to present Yolngu artist Wanapati Yunupingu’s first solo exhibition. For his debut solo exhibition with Tolarno Galleries, Yolngu artist Wanapati Yunupingu has transformed an array of found road signs and scrap metal into 24 sculptural works etched freehand with a rotary drill. Cleverly exploiting the […]