List of Indigenous Australian visual artists
Encyclopedia
Numerous Indigenous Australians are noted for their participation in, and contributions to, the Visual arts of Australia and abroad. Contemporary Indigenous Australian art
is a national movement of international significance with work by Indigenous artists, including paintings by those from the Western Desert
, achieving widespread critical acclaim.
Because naming conventions for Indigenous Australians vary widely, this list is ordered by first name rather than surname.
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians. It is generally regarded as beginning with a painting movement that started at Papunya, northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 1971, involving artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri...
is a national movement of international significance with work by Indigenous artists, including paintings by those from the Western Desert
Western Desert cultural bloc
The Western Desert cultural bloc or just Western Desert is a cultural region in Australia covering about 600,000 square kilometres, including the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia...
, achieving widespread critical acclaim.
Because naming conventions for Indigenous Australians vary widely, this list is ordered by first name rather than surname.
- Ada Andy NapaltjarriAda Andy NapaltjarriAda Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ada was born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and has lived in several Northern Territory communities...
- Albert NamatjiraAlbert NamatjiraAlbert Namatjira , born Elea Namatjira, was an Australian artist. He was a Western Arrernte man, an Indigenous Australian of the Western MacDonnell Ranges area...
- Anatjari TjakamarraAnatjari TjakamarraAnatjari Tjakamarra was a Central Australian Aboriginal artist who was part of the Papunya Tula art movement. He came from the area of Kulkuta, southeast of Kiwirrkura in Western Australia. He was a Pintupi man....
- Biddy Rockman NapaljarriBiddy Rockman NapaljarriBiddy Rockman Napaljarri is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She has been painting since 1986, and her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.-Life:...
- Bill Yidumduma HarneyBill Yidumduma HarneyBill Yidumduma Harney is a senior elder of the Wardaman people whose homeland is near Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is also known as an artist, storyteller, and musician.-Early life:...
- Billy Stockman TjapaltjarriBilly Stockman TjapaltjarriBilly Stockman Tjapaltjarri, is one of Australia's best-known artists of the Western Desert Art Movement, or Papunya Tula....
- Bronwyn BancroftBronwyn BancroftBronwyn Bancroft is an Aboriginal Australian artist, notable for being the first Australian fashion designer invited to show her work in Paris...
- Brook AndrewBrook AndrewBrook Andrew is a visual artist of Wiradjuri and Scottish descent.Brook Andrew is a conceptually driven artist who challenges cultural and historical perception, using installation, text and image to comment on local and global issues regarding race, consumerism and history...
- Cassidy Possum TjapaltjarriCassidy Possum TjapaltjarriCassidy Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian Aboriginal spokesman, tribal elder and well known visual artist....
- Clifford Possum TjapaltjarriClifford Possum TjapaltjarriClifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists...
- Daisy Jugadai NapaltjarriDaisy Jugadai NapaltjarriDaisy Jugadai Napaltjarri was a Pintupi- and Luritja-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region, and sister of artist Molly Jugadai Napaltjarri...
- Danie MellorDanie MellorDanie Mellor is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist and the winner of the 2009 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award...
- Darren SiwesDarren SiwesDarren Siwes is an Australian artist. He is of Indigenous and Dutch descent.He completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts , and a Graduate Diploma of Education at the University of South Australia....
- David MalangiDavid MalangiDavid Malangi was an Indigenous Australian Yolngu artist from the Northern Territory. He was one of the most well known bark painters from Arnhem Land and a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. He was born at Mulanga, on the east bank of the Glyde River.He painted on...
- Dorothy NapangardiDorothy NapangardiDorothy Napangardi is a distinguished contemporary Indigenous Australian artist from Mina Mina. She is one of around 3,000 Warlpiri speakers who live in or are originally from the Tanami Desert region of Central Australia....
- Eileen NapaltjarriEileen NapaltjarriEileen Napaltjarri is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Eileen Napaltjarri, also known as Anyima Napaltjarri or Nanyuma Napaltjarri, began painting for Papunya Tula artists' cooperative in 1996...
- Emily Kame Kngwarreye
- Freddy TimmsFreddy TimmsFreddy Timms is a leading Australian Indigenous artist from the Kimberley region.-Life and art:Timms commenced painting on canvas in the 1990s at Turkey Creek / Warmun in the Kimberley region of Western Australia....
- Gloria PetyarreGloria PetyarreGloria Petyarre is an Australian Aboriginal artist from the Anmatyerre community, just north of Alice Springs...
- Gordon BennettGordon Bennett (artist)Gordon Bennett is an Australian artist of Aboriginal and Anglo-Gaelic descent. Born in Monto, Queensland, and now working in Brisbane, Bennett is a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art.-Biography:...
- Gordon Syron
- Harold ThomasHarold ThomasHarold Joseph Thomas is an Indigenous Australian descended from the Luritja people of Central Australia. An artist and land rights activist, he is best known for designing and copyrighting the Australian Aboriginal Flag....
- designer of the Aboriginal flag - Helen Nelson NapaljarriHelen Nelson NapaljarriHelen Nelson Napaljarri , also known as Helen White Napajarri or Helen Spencer Napaljarri, is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. A literacy worker in Yuendumu, Northern Territory, Helen began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists in the 1980s...
- Ian AbdullaIan AbdullaIan Abdulla was a Ngarrindjeri Australian Aboriginal contemporary artist. He has been called Australia's greatest naive artist.Abdulla was born in 1947 at Swan Reach, on the Murray River, in the Riverland region of South Australia. His art depicts the landscape and activities of this area, with a...
- Jack Cook Jangala
- John MawurndjulJohn MawurndjulJohn Mawurndjul is an Australian contemporary Indigenous artist. Mawurndjul's artwork is highly regarded internationally. He uses traditional motifs in innovative ways to express spiritual and cultural values....
- John Moriarty
- Judy Watson NapangardiJudy Watson NapangardiJudy Napangardi Watson is an Indigenous Australian, senior female painter from the Yuendumu community in the Northern Territory, Australia. She is well known for the distinctive style of painting that she developed alongside her sister Maggie Watson who taught her painting skills...
- Juju WilsonJuju WilsonJuju Wilson is an aboriginal artist and part of the contemporary Indigenous Australian art movement.-Artistic and professional career:...
- Kathleen NgaleKathleen NgaleKathleen Ngale is a senior Australian Aboriginal artist, born ca. 1930 in the Utopia region of Central Australia...
- Kathleen PetyarreKathleen PetyarreKathleen Petyarre is an eminent Australian Aboriginal artist, known for her paintings displaying an extremely refined layering technique with intricate dotting. Her art refers directly to her country and her Dreamings, concepts that may be difficult to grasp for the non-Aboriginal viewer...
- Kiralinda Tynoonhee
- Kitty Pultara NapaljarriKitty Pultara NapaljarriKitty Pultara Napaljarri is an Anmatyerre-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born at Napperby Station east of Yuendumu, Northern Territory, she worked on the station and first learned to paint there around 1986...
- Lily Kelly NapangardiLily Kelly NapangardiLily Kelly Napangardi is a distinguished Aboriginal artist born in the Haasts Bluff region of the Northern Territory of Australia....
- Lin OnusLin OnusWilliam McLintock Onus was a Scottish-Aboriginal Artist of Wiradjuri descent from Melbourne, Australia.-Early life:Born Lin Burralung McLintock Onus, his father was political activist and businessman, Bill Onus...
- Linda Syddick NapaltjarriLinda Syddick NapaltjarriLinda Yunkata Syddick Napaltjarri is a Pintupi- and Pitjantjatjara- speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- Lisa BellearLisa BellearLisa Bellear was an Indigenous Australian poet, photographer, activist, spokeswoman, dramatist, comedian and broadcaster. She was a Goernpil woman of the Noonuccal people of Minjerribah , Queensland...
- Louisa NapaljarriLouisa NapaljarriLouisa Lawson Napaljarri was a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Louisa commenced painting at Lajamanu, Northern Territory in 1986. Her work is held by the National Gallery of Victoria.-Life:...
- Lucy Napaljarri KennedyLucy Napaljarri KennedyLucy Napaljarri Kennedy AM is a Walpiri and Anmatyerre-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. One of the first Indigenous women artists to paint in acrylics, her work has been exhibited at major galleries around Australia, and is held in the collection of the National...
- Maggie Napaljarri RossMaggie Napaljarri RossMaggie Napaljarri Ross is an Indigenous Australian artist. Her work has been collected by Artbank and the Kluge-Ruhe Museum in the United States.-Life:...
- Makinti NapanangkaMakinti NapanangkaMakinti Napanangka was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- Mawukura (Mulgra) Jimmy NerrimahMawukura (Mulgra) Jimmy NerrimahMawukura is an Australian Aboriginal artist and a Walmajarri man. His country is around Wayampajarti, a Jila in the north-western area of the Great Sandy Desert...
- Mervyn BishopMervyn BishopMervyn Bishop is an Australian news and documentary photographer. Joining the Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet in 1962 or 1963, he was the first Aboriginal Australian to work on a metropolitan daily newspaper and one of the first Aboriginal Australians to become a professional photographer...
- Michael Nelson JagamarraMichael Nelson Jagamarra-Biography:Tjakamarra was born at Vaughan Springs in the Northern Territory around 1949. He first saw white men at Mt Doreen station and remembers hiding in the bush in fear! Michael lived at Haasts Bluff for a time with the same family group as Long Jack Phillipus Tjakammara. Later his parents...
- Michael RileyMichael Riley (artist)Michael Riley was an Australian Indigenous photographer and film-maker, and co-founder of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. A significant figure in Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, Riley's work is held by many public art institutions including the National Gallery of Australia.-Life...
- Mick Namarari TjapaltjarriMick Namarari TjapaltjarriMick Namarari Tjapaltjarri , is one of the most important painters to emerge from the Western Desert since 1971....
- Minnie PwerleMinnie PwerleMinnie Pwerle was an Australian Aboriginal artist...
- Molly Jugadai NapaltjarriMolly Jugadai NapaltjarriMolly Jugadai Napaltjarri is a Pintupi– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings are held in major collections including the National Gallery of Australia.-Life:...
- Mona Rockman NapaljarriMona Rockman NapaljarriMona Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings and pottery are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.-Life:...
- Naata NungurrayiNaata NungurrayiNaata Nungurrayi is an Australian Aboriginal artist who was born at the site of Kumil, west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia...
- Ngoia Pollard NapaltjarriNgoia Pollard NapaltjarriNgoia Pollard Napaltjarri is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ngoia Pollard married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became an artist working with the Papunya Tula company, and they had five children.Having commenced painting in 1997, Ngoia Pollard won a major...
- Nita Penanka Rubuntja
- Nora Andy NapaltjarriNora Andy NapaltjarriNora Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. like her mother Entalura Nangala, Nora has painted for Indigenous artists' cooperative Papunya Tula...
- Norah Nelson NapaljarriNorah Nelson NapaljarriNorah Nelson Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Norah Nelson began painting in 1986, and has exhibited her works both in Australia and other countries...
- Nyakul DawsonNyakul DawsonNyakul Dawson was an Australian Aboriginal tribal elder and artist.-References:*, The Guardian, February 5, 2007....
- Paddy BedfordPaddy BedfordPaddy Bedford was a major contemporary Indigenous Australian artist from Warmun in the Kimberley, and one of eight Australian artists selected for an architectural commission for the Musée du Quai Branly....
- Paddy Japaljarri StewartPaddy Japaljarri StewartPaddy Japaljarri Stewart, Australian Aboriginal artist. From Mungapunju, south of Yuendumu. Chairman of the Warlukurlangu Artists Committee.Stewart was one of the artists who contributed to the Honey Ant Dreaming mural on the Papunya school wall in 1971 - the very genesis of the modern Aboriginal...
- Pansy NapangardiPansy NapangardiPansy Napangardi was born at Haasts Bluff in the late 1940s and was moved with the settlement to Papunya in the early 1960s. She is a major painter in what is today known as the Papunya Tula movement...
- Parara NapaltjarriParara NapaltjarriParara Napaltjarri was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings are included in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.-Life:Parara was born around 1944 or 1945...
- Peggy Rockman NapaljarriPeggy Rockman NapaljarriPeggy Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- Polly Ngale
- Queenie McKenzieQueenie McKenzieQueenie McKenzie was a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist. She was born on Old Texas Station, on the western bank of the Ord River in the East Kimberley. Her works have sold at auction for $8000 to $15000.-External links:...
- Revel CooperRevel CooperRevel Ronald Cooper was an Indigenous Australian artist.-Early life:Cooper was born in Katanning, Western Australia in the mid-1930s and as a ward of the state was placed at Carrolup Native Settlement.-Children of Carrolup:...
- Richard BellRichard Bell (artist)Richard Bell is an Australian artist and political activist.Bell came to the attention of the wider community after his painting Scientia E Metaphysica won the 2003 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award...
- Rosella NamokRosella NamokRosella Namok is an Indigenous Australian artist from Lockhart River, Queensland. Namok was taught art at high school and learned printmaking and other techniques through a community art project in 1997 that led to the formation of a group of artists known as the Lockhart River Art Gang.Namok is...
- Rover ThomasRover ThomasRover Thomas Joolama was an Indigenous Australian artist.-Early life:He was born at Gunawaggi in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. At the age of 10 Rover and his family moved to the Kimberley where, as was usual at the time, he began work as a stockman...
- Sally MorganSally Morgan (artist)Sally Jane Morgan is an Australian Aboriginal author, dramatist, and artist. Morgan's works are on display in numerous private and public collections in both Australia and around the world.-Early life:...
- Sheila Brown NapaljarriSheila Brown NapaljarriSheila Brown Napaljarri was a Warlpiri speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. A contributor to major collaborative paintings by Indigenous communities, her works are also held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the South Australian Museum.-Life:Sheila Brown was...
- Shirley PurdieShirley PurdieShirley Purdie is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist, notable for winning the 2007 Blake Prize for religious art. Purdie was born at Gilburn, or Mabel Downs Station, in Western Australia's Kimberley region in 1948, and is a painter at Warmun community....
- Sid DomicSid DomicSid Domic is an Australian rugby league footballer of Aboriginal descent who plays for Dewsbury Rams. Sid is both a dependable rugby league player and a promising artist. He is proud of his heritage and has produced some beautiful pieces of Aboriginal Artwork. Much of his own knowledge in this area...
- Susie Bootja Bootja NapaltjarriSusie Bootja Bootja NapaltjarriSusie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri was an Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- Takariya NapaltjarriTakariya NapaltjarriTakariya Napaltjarri is an Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She has painted with Papunya Tula artists' cooperative...
- Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri
- Timmy Payungka TjapangatiTimmy Payungka TjapangatiTimmy Payungka was was an Australian Aboriginal artist from the Papunya Tula school of painting. He was born at Parayirpilynga near of Wilkinkarra....
- Tjunkiya NapaltjarriTjunkiya NapaltjarriTjunkiya Napaltjarri was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- Tjyllyungoo (Lance Chadd)Tjyllyungoo (Lance Chadd)Tjyllyungoo is the traditional name of the landscape painter Lance Chadd from Western Australia. A Noongar man, Tjyllyungoo's paintings are internationally recognised and held in a number of collections....
- Topsy Gibson NapaljarriTopsy Gibson NapaljarriTopsy Gibson Napaljarri , also known as Tjayika or Tjanika, is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region.-Life:...
- Tracey Moffat -- photographer and filmmaker
- Valerie Lynch NapaltjarriValerie Lynch NapaltjarriValerie Lynch Napaltjarri is an Indigenous Australian artist from Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory. She is a painter and printmaker whose work has been collected by the National Gallery of Australia.-Life:...
- Wenten RubuntjaWenten RubuntjaW. Rubuntja was an Australian artist and Aboriginal rights activist. He belonged to the Arrernte indigenous people of Central Australia. His works were painted in acrylic or watercolours and influenced by themes from Dreamtime myths. His paintings are to be found in Australia's Parliament House,...
- Wintjiya NapaltjarriWintjiya NapaltjarriWintjiya Napaltjarri , and also known as Wintjia Napaltjarri No. 1, is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
- William BarakWilliam BarakWilliam Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...
See also
- List of Indigenous Australian musicians
- List of Indigenous Australian writers
- Indigenous Australian art