View source for Ngarra

{{for|the Yolngu ceremony known as Ngarra|Ngarra ceremony}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{use Australian English|date=July 2021}}
'''Ngarra''' ({{circa}}1920–2008) was an [[Aboriginal Australian]] artist of the Andinyin and [[Gija people|Gija]] peoples, known for his paintings on canvas and paper which depicted his homelands in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of [[Western Australia]], along with events from the ancestral and colonial past. Among Aboriginal people in the central and east Kimberley he was revered for his deep knowledge of [[Aboriginal ceremony|Aboriginal ceremonial practices]] which he learned from his grandparents Muelbyne and Larlgarlbyne while living nomadically in the remote Mornington Range.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tapper |first1=Nick |title=Ngarra: The Texta Drawings |date=2015 |publisher=Mossenson Art Foundation |location=Coolbinia, Western Australia |isbn=9780980400946 |pages=175}}</ref>
== Early life ==
Ngarra was born in 1920 on [[Glenroy Station]] in the west Kimberley. An orphan, he ran away from the station and went to live with his grandparents Muebyne and Larlgarbyne.<ref name="PICA"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Allinson |first1=Miles |title=Ngarra's texta drawings imbued with the mystical force of Aboriginal life |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/art-review-ngarras-texta-drawings-imbued-with-the-mystical-force-of-aboriginal-life-20160208-gmo829.html |accessdate=12 March 2020 |agency=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>
== Career ==
Ngarra started painting in 1994. His work was facilitated and documented by the [[anthropologist]] Kevin Shaw.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Kevin |title=Mates: Images of the Kimberley |date=2003 |publisher=Australian Scholarly Publishing |location=Melbourne |isbn=1740970284}}</ref>
Ngarra's late paintings are defined by his use of vibrant colour contrast, which he achieved by mixing Ara [[acrylic paint]]s to create his own palette. Ngarra's paintings contain many references to pre-colonial Aboriginal traditions. His works were exhibited at the [[Western Australian Museum]] in 2000, and some are held in the [[National Gallery of Victoria]], the [[Art Gallery of Western Australia]] and [[Museum Victoria]].<ref name="PICA">{{cite web | title=Ngarra | website=[[Portland Institute for Contemporary Art]] (PICA) | url=https://www.pica.org/artists/ngarra/ | archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200324160317/https://www.pica.org/artists/ngarra/}}</ref>
In 2015, sixteen of Ngarra's works were included in the exhibition ''No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting|url=https://www.nevadaart.org/art/exhibitions/no-boundaries-aboriginal-australian-contemporary-abstract-painting/|access-date=2021-03-16|website=Nevada Museum of Art|language=en}}</ref> Organised by William Fox and Henry Skerritt for the [[Nevada Museum of Art]], the exhibition toured to five museums across the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|last=edited by Henry F. Skerritt; with contributions by John Carty|first=Edwina Circuitt, William L. Fox, Stephen Gilchrist, Jens Hoffmann, Darren Jorgensen, Emily McDaniel, Ian McLean, Fred R. Myers, Una Rey, Luke Scholes, Henry F. Skerritt, Quentin Spraque|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892794774|title=No boundaries : aboriginal Australian contemporary abstract painting : from the Debra and Dennis Scholl collection|date=2014|isbn=978-3-7913-5449-1|location=Munich|oclc=892794774}}</ref> A tribute to the artist was included in the inaugural [[Tarnanthi]] exhibition in 2015 at the [[Art Gallery of South Australia]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Tarnanthi 2015 | website=AGSA - The Art Gallery of South Australia | date=8 October 2015 | url=https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/2015-tarnanthi-festival-contemporary-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-art/ | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>
== Collections ==
* [[Artbank]]
* [[Art Gallery of Western Australia]]
* [[Berndt Museum of Anthropology]], [[University of Western Australia]]
* [[Edith Cowan University]]
* [[Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection]] of the [[University of Virginia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia |url=https://kluge-ruhe.org/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=Kluge-Ruhe |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Museum Victoria]]
* [[Redland City Art Gallery]]
* [[Western Australian Museum]]
== Significant exhibitions ==
* 2000: ''Ngarra, Images of His Country.'' Katta Djinoong Gallery, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
* 2000'': National Indigenous Heritage Award.,'' Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia<ref>{{Cite book |last=Commission. |first=Australian Heritage |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/222648414 |title=National Indigenous Heritage Art Award : catalogue ... |date=1998–2000 |publisher=Australian Heritage Commission |oclc=222648414}}</ref>
* 2014: ''The World is Not a Foreign Land.'' Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
* 2015 ''No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting.'' Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, USA
* 2015: ''Tarnanthi.'' Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}  <!--- This makes all the footnotes list here --->
== Further reading ==
* Coslovich, Gabriella [https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/ngarra-finds-his-art-through-the-hands-of-time-20021005-gdunry.html Ngarra finds his art through the hands of time]. ''The Age'', Oct 05, 2002.
* {{Cite journal|last=Jorgensen|first=Darren|date=April 2016|title=Ngarra and the 'Ngarrangkarni'|url=https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=007302568958811;res=IELLCC|journal=Art Monthly Australasia|language=EN|issue=288|pages=22–27}}
* Late bloomer's broad palette. 2008. ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', 11 December  2008.
*{{cite web | title=Ngarra | website=NETS Victoria | date=2013 | url=https://netsvictoria.org.au/artist/ngarra/}}
* Sprague, Quentin. "Outside history-Mick Jawalji and Ngarra." ''Art Monthly Australia'' 244 (2011): 80.
* Skerritt, Henry F. "Ngarra, Andinyin/Kitja, Artist, c. 1920-2008." ''[[Art Monthly Australasia|Art Monthly Australia]]'' 216 (2008): 42.
* Skerritt, Henry F. Culture mirrored in art. ''The Courier-Mail'', Dec 30, 2008.
* Skerritt, Henry F. [https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-master-of-tradition-and-innovation-20081206-gdt5is.html A master of tradition and innovation]. ''Sydney Morning Herald'', Dec 06, 2008.
[[Category:20th-century Australian painters]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian painters]]
[[Category:Artists from Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal artists]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]