Vincent Namatjira

Vincent Namatjira OAM (born 1983) is an Aboriginal Australian artist living in Indulkana, in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY lands) in South Australia. His work has been nominated for the Archibald Prize several times, and won the Ramsay Art Prize in 2019. He is the great-grandson of the Arrente watercolour artist Albert Namatjira.

Vincent Namatjira

OAM
Born1983 (age 36–37)
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
NationalityAustralian
Known forPainting, portraiture
Notable work
Close Contact, Three Legends, Endless Circulation
Awards2019 winner Ramsay Art Prize; 2017, 2018, 2019 finalist for Archibald Prize
Websitewww.iwantjaarts.com.au/our-artists/vincent-namatjira

Early life

Namatjira was born in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, and is the great-grandson of renowned watercolour artist Albert Namatjira. After his mother, Jillian, died in 1991, Vincent and his sister were removed by the state and sent to foster homes in Perth, Western Australia.[1]

Of this period, he has said that he felt lost and did not have good memories of childhood, especially as an adolescent. When he was 18, he travelled to Ntaria (Hermannsburg) in the Northern Territory to find his extended family. Here he drew reconnected with lost culture, language and country, and got involved with land management issues. During a trip through the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, he met his wife, Natasha, and settled with her family at Kanpi.[2]

In 2011, he was inspired to take up painting by Natasha and her father, Jimmy Pompey,[2] both artists based at Iwantja Arts, an Aboriginal-owned and -operated centre in Indulkana.[1]

He and his family visited Ntaria, where they studied his aunt, the late Elaine Namatjira (cited as Eileen), a leader of the Hermannsburg Potters, create artworks about their country. He learnt more of the impact of his great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira.[2]

Career

Namatjira began painting in 2012, initially working on traditional dot paintings and taught by his wife Natasha. In 2013, he started painting portraits, which he found to be his preferred focus.[3]

His 2014 series, Albert's Story, reflects on his great-grandfather Albert Namatjira's life and legacy. About the series, Namatjira said: "I hope my grandfather would be quite proud, maybe smiling down on me; because I won’t let him go. I just keep carrying him on, his name and our families' stories".[2]

His entry for the 2016 TarraWarra Biennial, Endless circulation, comprised a series of portraits of the seven Prime Ministers who had been in power in Australia during his lifetime until that point.[4]

Also in 2016, he painted a series of portraits of the seven wealthiest people in Australia.[5]

Three Legends, Namatjira's entry for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) in 2017, was a series of three portraits: David Unaipon, the first published Indigenous Australian writer; Jimmy Little, the first Indigenous performer to have a top 10 single; and Lionel Rose, the first Indigenous boxer to win a world title.[6]

Style

Namatjira's paintings have been described as caricatures, bordering on "outsider art". They often depict famous and powerful people standing alongside the artist, as if in a publicity shoot, with frequent references to Captain James Cook, the British royal family and contemporary Indigenous life. He has said that he is interested in people and their stories, and likes to use humour in his paintings.[7] He has said that Cook, the 18th-century British explorer, is one of his favourite subjects, and it was one of his portraits of Cook that was purchased by the British Museum.[8]

Although his portraits resemble caricature, according to the art historian Wes Hill they also have "a level of sophistication that only a colourist, not a satirist, could possess".[9]

Curator of Indigenous Australian art at QAGOMA Bruce Mclean describes Namatjira as "one of the leading lights of the emerging generation of artists from remote central Australia".[2]

Exhibitions

Namatjira's first solo exhibition was held in 2016.[5]

His work has been exhibited at the British Museum (in Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation, 2015); TarraWarra Museum of Art (TarraWarra Biennial, 2016); the Art Gallery of South Australia (Tarnanthi, 2017 & 2018); Art Basel Miami Beach (2018); Artspace Sydney, (Just Not Australian, 2018); Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (Asia Pacific Triennial, 2018); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2018); Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre (2018), Warrnambool Art Gallery (2018)[7] and Flinders University Museum of Art.[5]

Namatjira's work is held in the British Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia and Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art.[7]

Awards and honours
  • In 2019, Namatjira won the A$100,000 Ramsay Art Prize, which is awarded by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and is open to Australian artists under the age of 40 working in any medium.[14] His work Close Contact (2019) is a double-sided portrait on plywood featuring a full-length Captain James Cook on one side and a full-length self-portrait on the other, which remains at AGSA.[8]
  • On 8 June 2020, in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Namatjira was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "in recognition of his service to Indigenous visual arts and the community".[15]

References
  1. King, Natalie (24 November 2018). "Vincent Namatjira in Conversation". Ocula. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. Mclean, Bruce (1 May 2015). "Albert And Vincent Namatjira". QAGOMA. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  3. "Archibald Prize 2017: Vincent Namatjira". Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. "Prime Ministers Series: TarraWarra Biennial 2016". This Is No Fantasy. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. "Vincent Namatjira". AGSA - The Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Telstra Award: Finalist". This Is No Fantasy. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. "Vincent Namatjira". This Is No Fantasy. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. Brewster, Kerry (13 July 2015). "Younger Namatjira breaks from family style with bold, fresh paintings". ABC News. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. Hill, Wes (1 March 2019). "Vincent Namatjira: Colourful optimism". Artlink. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  10. "Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards". This Is No Fantasy. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  11. "Alice Art Prize 2018: Finalist". This Is No Fantasy. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  12. "Archibald Prize 2018: Vincent Namatjira". Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  13. "Prizes Archibald Prize 2019: Vincent Namatjira". Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  14. Smith, Matthew (24 May 2019). "Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira wins $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. Kontominas, Bellinda; Terzon, Emilia (7 June 2020). "Queen's Birthday honours recognises high-profile Australians including Tony Abbott, Bronwyn Bishop and Marcia Langton". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

Further reading
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