Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, November 29, 2021: Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, an Australian Artist (Aboriginal Indigenous artist) (#1430

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s (1943) art is a good representation of the characteristic Pintupi style: repetition of forms, which are geometric, simple and bold, and pigments which are often restricted to four basic colours of black, red, yellow and white. But Ronnie experiments with other colours as well. Ronnie's work follows the Pintupi style of strong circles joined together by connecting lines relating to the people, country (geographical map) and the Dreamtime. Tingari may be poetically interpreted as song-line paintings relating to the songs (of the people) and creation stories (of places) in Pintupi mythology. Ronnie can be considered amongst the first wave of artists effectively linking such ancient stories with modern mediums.

Ronnie Tjampitjinpawas born at Tjiturrunya, in Western Australia. Following an extended drought in the 1950s, Ronnie's family moved to Haasts Bluff and then on to Papunya where he grew up.

Papunya was a government experiment under the policy of assimilation where mixtures of tribes were thrown together into one community. It was hardly an ideal way to grow up and gave rise to the desire of Ronnie and many other Pintupi artists and residents to move back to there home lands. Whilst in Papunya, Ronnie started painting in the early to mid 1970s. He moved to Kintore in the 1980s, shortly after its establishment, fulfilling his dream.

Ronnie's style tends towards simple, geometric shapes and bold lines. He explores the themes of water dreaming, bushfire dreaming and the Tingari cycle. Tingari are the legendary beings of the Pintupi people that travelled the desert performing rituals, teaching law, creating landforms and shaping what would become ceremonial sites. As far as we can know, the meanings behind Tingari paintings are multi-layered, however, those meaning are not available to the uninitiated.

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was the winner of the 1988 Alice Springs Art Prize and is shown in numerous major public and private galleries worldwide. He is married to Mary Brown Napangardi and currently spends his time between Alice Springs and his home in Kintore.

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