Review of "Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu: Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from the Australian Desert"

NYU’s Grey Art Museum’s exhibition of Australia’s “most iconic Aboriginal art movement” titled Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu: Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from the Australian Desert, is a collection from the oldest Aboriginal art organization in Australia and one of the most globally recognized Australian art movements. I never had the opportunity to view these paintings in person until now.

            The space itself was set up thoughtfully. Written information on the wall

grouped certain paintings into categories- for example “Women of Papunya” or the

importance of Tjukurppa, an Aboriginal concept of their history and their land.

The works often consist of hundreds or even thousands of miniscule dots.

One could spend hours contemplating how long each piece took to produce, with its immense attention to detail and precision, for hours. The graphic elements such as the use of circles, spirals, and lines, stood out clearly as being abstractions of organic elements. Even before reading the labels on the walls I understood the connections between the brightly colored geometric shapes and the immense interest in the hills, plains, and animals on the land the Papunya people had been removed from. 

The paintings are on scraps of cardboard, masonite, and linoleum, yet walking around the exhibit you would suspect nothing short of modern canvases to support the acrylic medium. Their work is thought provoking as well as impressive on a technical scale. 

             

This exhibit is of general interest whether one is concerned with the history of

Papunya Tula artists, or just looking to enjoy the kaleidoscope of dots.