MS D. Y U N U P I ŊU
( C .194 5 - 2 02 2 )
DJOTA RRA • H E AVENLY ME R MA I D 26 October - 18 November 2022 Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space 84 William Street Melbourne
MS D. Y U NUPIŊU
( C .1 94 5 - 2 02 2 )
DJ O TAR R A • HEAVENLY M E RM A I D 26 October - 18 November 2022 Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space 84 William Street Melbourne
Alcaston Gallery is honoured to present an exhibition of paintings on bark and timber board by the late Ms D. Yunupiŋu in Djotarra - Heavenly Mermaid. In April 2021, we launched the new Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space at 84 William Street Melbourne with the first ever solo exhibition of work by Ms Yunupiŋu; the late artist made the long journey to Melbourne from Yirrkala, NT to open her exhibition and the light and joy that she exuded that day still luminates the gallery space today. Discovering her passion for painting late in life, Ms Yunupiŋu created extraordinary artworks using a unique combination of natural earth pigments with reclaimed toner ink from discarded printer cartridges, which resulted in a highly distinctive and contemporary aesthetic. Ms. D. Yunupiŋu comes from a long lineage of distinguished artists being part of the celebrated ‘seven sisters’ group of Yolŋu women artists, and she succeeded in developing a totally unique artistic style of her own. Her deeply personal paintings portray the story of her conception as the spiritual mermaid exuding a sensitivity, kindness and empathy that truly captivates the audience, as the artist presented a world of wonder and innocence reminiscent of her carefree memories of childhood. Announced winner of the coveted major Telstra Bark Painting Award at this year’s 39th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Ms D. Yunupiŋu leaves behind an immense artistic and cultural legacy, both as a gifted artist and respected Yolŋu elder. Alcaston Gallery respectfully pays tribute to an artist of great joy and significance with this exhibition as a celebration of her life and art. © The Artist, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2022
1.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Three Mermaids 2022 (AK22739) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 114 x 73 cm SOLD
2.
Ms D. YUNUPINGU (C.1945 - 2022) Pink Mermaids 2022 (AK22619) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on board 180 x 122 cm SOLD
3.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Mermaids Amongst The Seaweed 2022 (AK22737) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 200 x 80 cm SOLD
4.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Three Sisters At Martjanbarr 2022 (AK22736) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 195 x 105 cm SOLD
5.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) My Märi And Her Sister 2022 (AK22735) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 145 x 82 cm SOLD
6.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Mermaids in White 2021 (AK22618) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on board 122 x 180 cm SOLD
7.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Yellow Mermaids I 2022 (AK22743) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 55.5 x 45.5 cm SOLD
8.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Mermaid And Stars I 2022 (AK22744) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 56 x 34 cm SOLD
9.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Mermaid And Stars II 2022 (AK22745) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 50 x 34 cm SOLD
10.
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Yellow Mermaids II 2022 (AK22747) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 50 x 46 cm SOLD
S E V EN SI ST ER S The following major installation entitled Seven Sisters consists of six paintings on bark depicting the artist and her siblings, who referred to themselves as the Djulpan, the seven sisters of the Plaeides sung by their Gumatj clan songlines. In this special artwork, Ms D. Yunupiu has portrayed her and her sisters as mermaids in the heavens – from left to right, the siblings are Dhopiya Yunupiŋu, Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu, Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu & Barrapu Yunupiŋu (who were inseparable and shared a close bond in life), Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, Ms D. Yunupiŋu (self-portrait) and Ranydjupi Yunupiŋu.
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MS D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters Installation of 6 barks 2022 (AK22808) Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark Size variable SOLD
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters I 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 83 x 57 cm
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters II 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 88 x 54 cm
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters III 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 95 x 65 cm
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters IV 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 104 x 70 cm
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters V 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 96 x 50 cm
Ms D. Yunupiŋu (C.1945 - 2022) Seven Sisters VI 2022 Natural earth pigments and recycled print toner on bark 90 x 57 cm
M S D. Y U N U P I ŊU
( C .194 5 - 2 02 2 )
DJ OTA RRA • H EAVE NLY M E R MA I D Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space, 84 William Street, Melbourne
Image credits: Exhibition installation views at Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space – 84 Williams St Melbourne VIC 3000, Photography: Simon Strong
MS. D (DJERRKŊU) YUNUPIŊU Eunice Djerrkŋu Marika
Born: 30th June 1945 Died: June 2022 Language: Yolŋu Domicile: Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia The late Ms. D (Djerrkŋu) Yunupiŋu (also known as Eunice) was a multi-disciplinary artist and a highly respected Yolŋu elder, known as the ‘mother of the Rirraatjiŋu nation’, based in Yirrkala in the Northern Territory. Born in 1954 between Elcho Island and Yirrkala on Inglis Island, Ms. D (Djerrkŋu) Yunupiŋu came from an established family of artists, as the daughter of Gumatj patriarch and activist Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu, the master of the diamond miny’tji (sacred design) that signifies gurtha (Ancestral fire), and sister to Gaymala, Gulumbu, Barrupu and Ms N Yunupiŋu who are all at the forefront of contemporary art practice. As a child, Ms. D (Djerrkŋu) Yunupiŋu was educated and inspired by Christian missionaries at Yirrkala; an influence that later led her to become an important Church Leader and spiritual inspiration within her own community. These early years of the artists life went on to serve as the inspiration for Ms. D Yunupiŋu artistic practice much later in her life. ‘When I was small I worked ironing and sweeping and doing housework. I also worked at the Yirrkala hospital and I worked in the Kindergarten with the children teaching Yolŋu stories… When I work as an artist I picture these stories that were told by my father. I learnt from my mother, she was a very good hunter, weaver and good mother. I was born on Inglis Island, between two points called Guŋuwurri and Bäkanhiyala, near Mata Mata community. I was still a baby when my parents took me back to Yirrkala’. Ms D. Yunupiŋu was married to the late Roy Dadayŋa Marika, an important Rirratjiŋu leader known as ‘The Father of Land Rights’, with whom she had five children including Dr. Raymattja Munuŋgurrutj Marika B. Ed, AM, Bakamumu Marika, Sam Maṉdaka Marika (Senior Ranger Dhimurru) and Witiyana Marika (co-founder of Yothu Yindi). Ms D. Yunupiŋu was a revered and adored elder in Yirrkala who was highly active in community events, choirs and led a group of women healers who provide traditional medicine and healing to both Yolŋu and non-Indigenous people. A gifted fibrework artist for much of her life Ms D. Yunupiŋu began to paint in 2019, inspired by the story of her conception as a spiritual mermaid. From this moment she was immediately embraced by the art world as a significant and important talent. Ms D. Yunupiŋu’s work stems from a memory she has from a time before she was born, when the artist’s spirit visited her father in the form of a mermaid, signalling her conception. Ms D. Yunupiŋu describes this encounter:
“One day, my dad sees the tail of the mermaid and thinks he has seen a fish, so he walks closer and closer and closer and silently puts the woomera into the spear ready to throw. He throws the spear at the mermaid, but she jumps into the water…(Later, when) he gets home and lies down and falls into a deep sleep…In his dream he sees the mermaid and realises it was no ordinary fish. It was me. I was telling him in the dream “That was me dad, don’t spear me. Bapa … It is I, it was not a fish’’. Upon waking, Ms D Yunupingu’s mother confirmed with her husband that she is pregnant, and they understood that the mermaid had been the spirit of their unborn daughter. In 2020 Alcaston Gallery first presented Ms D Yunupingu’s work at Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020 and in 2021 the artist presented her first ever solo exhibition; I am a Mermaid at Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne. Ms D Yunupingu’s highly distinctive works garnered high acclaim in 2021, with the artist announced as a finalist in the 38th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin and for the 2021 Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney for her work titled Me and my sisters, becoming the first artist working on bark to be awarded finalist in the prize’s history Ms D Yunupingu’s was also featured at the Art Gallery of South Australia’s 2021 Tarnanthi, Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in Adelaide, South Australia, and in Bark Ladies at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) International in Melbourne, a landmark exhibition celebrating the NGV’s extraordinary collection of bark paintings and larrakitj (painted hollow poles) by women artists working out of the Yolngu-run art centre, Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre (Buku). A complementary children’s exhibition, The Gecko and the Mermaid presented by NGV in parallel to Bark Ladies, focused on the art and stories of Ms D Yunupiŋu and her sister, award-winning artist Ms N Yunupiŋu. In 2022 Ms D Yunupingu was named WINNER of the coveted Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards presented at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). It was with great sadness that Alcaston Gallery learnt of the passing of Ms D Yunupingu in June 2022, and farewelled an artist of great joy and optimism. Ms Yunupingu leaves an immense artistic and cultural legacy; both as a gifted and celebrated artist and as a respected leader of her community. © The Artist, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2022
EXHIBITIONS Solo Exhibitions 2021
I am a Mermaid, Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu , Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2022
Heavinly Mermaid, Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu , Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Selected Group Exhibitions 2013 String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney New South Wales, Australia 2014 String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art (National tour), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia 2014 String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art (National tour), Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Caboolture, Queensland, Australia 2015
String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art (National tour), Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2015
String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art (National tour), Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
2015
String Theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art (National tour), Glasshouse, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
2015 Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, as part of Tarnanthi 2015, Adelaide College of the Arts, Adelaide South Australia, Australia 2016
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Charles Darwin University Gallery, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2017
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, University of Newcastle Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
2017
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Castlemaine State Festival, Castlemaine Market Building, Victoria, Australia
2017 Gapan Gallery 2017, Gapan Gallery, Garma Festival, Gulkula, Northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
2017
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre Gallery, Brighton, Victoria, Australia
2017
Tarnanthi 2017, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
2017
Entwined, as part of Tarnanthi 2017, Santos Museum of Economic Botany, Botanical Gardens of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
2017
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Tasmanian Museum And Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
2018
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
2018
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Caboolture, Queensland, Australia
2018
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Warwick Art Gallery, Warwick, Queensland, Australia
2019
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
2019
Balnhdhurr: A Lasting Impression, Touring Exhibition, Whitlam Institute Gallery – University of Western Sydney (UWS), New South Wales, Australia
2020
37th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2020
Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020 – online art fair
2021
38th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2021
Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2021
Tarnanthi - Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, South Australia
2021
Explore Sydney Contemporary 2021, presented by Alcaston Gallery, Online Art Fair, Australia
2021
Bark Ladies, National Gallery of Victoria International, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2021
Gecko and the Mermaid, National Gallery of Victoria International, Children’s Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2022
All About Art 2022: Annual Collectors’ Exhibition, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2022
39th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
AWARDS, COLLECTIONS, COMMISSIONS, PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA Awards 2020
Finalist, 37th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2021
Finalist, 38th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2021
Finalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2022
WINNER, Telstra Bark Painting Award, 39th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Collections Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Fondation Opale, Lens, Switzerland
Media & Publication 2020
Francesca Wallace, 5 First Nations artists making waves in a big way, Vogue, Australia, Aug 10th 2020
2020
Louisa Penfold, Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu : Art in childhood series, Art.Play. Children. Learning, Oct 7th 2020
2020
Donnalyn Xu, NATSIAA 2020 Finalists Announced, Art Collector, 2020
2020
Louisa Penfold, What Inspired Artists Patricia Piccinini, Djerrkngu Yunupingu, John Wolseley and Ben Quilty, The Australian,
2021
Helen McKenzie, Making Waves, Art Collector, #96 Apr – Jun, 2021
2021
Annemarie Kiely, The Indigenous women redefining contemporary Australian art, Vogue, Australia, 9 Nov 2021
2021
Bark Ladies: the painters reimagining ancestral beings, mermaids and the Yolŋu universe, The Guardian, 17 Dec 2021
2021
McDonald, John, Tarnanthi 2021: surprises, eccentricities and dazzling variety, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Dec 2021
2022
Grishin, Sasha, Bark Ladies: how women’s Yolŋu bark paintings break with convention and embrace artists’ strong personalities, The Conversation, January 12, 2022rne, Victoria, Australia
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