George Tjungurrayi began painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1976. While the traditional aesthetic of Western Desert painting is notable in his early work, he has developed a distinctly minimal style that not only engages with the striking linear quality of early Pintupi painting but is also inherently distinguishable as his own. Tjungurrayi’s paintings depict the topographical reference points of his ancestral country, particularly those that reflect sites of cultural significance within Pintupi culture.
Solo exhibitions of Tjungurrayi’s work include Paintings, Utopia Art, Sydney (2016); Pulka Canvas, Utopia Art, Sydney at The Depot Gallery, Sydney (2013); Space & Place, Utopia Art, Sydney (2011); Between the Lines, Utopia Art, Sydney (2008); Paintings from Mamultjulkulnga and Kirrimalunya, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne (2003); Unforeseen 1989 to 2002, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane (2003); New Fields, Utopia Art, Sydney (2002); and George Tjungurrayi – first solo show, Utopia Art, Sydney (1997).
Selected group exhibitions include Abstraction of the World, Duddell’s x Biennale of Sydney, Duddell’s, Hong Kong (2017); Cornucopia, Utopia Art, Sydney (2016); Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney (2015); Sublime Point: The Landscape in Painting, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Gymea (2014); Volume One: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2012); 40 Years of Papunya Tula Art, Utopia Art, Sydney (2011); Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2010); and Western Desert Satellites, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth (2006).
Tjungurrayi’s work is held in a number of collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Groninger Museum, the Netherlands; Musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, Paris; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Seattle Art Museum, Washington; Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin; and University of Virginia, Charlottesville.