Born:
c. 1945
Deceased:
2020
Language Group:
Warlpiri
Country:
Papunya, North West of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:
Acrylic on Canvas and Linen
Subjects:
Possums, Snake, Kangaroos, Watanuma (Flying Ant), Bush Yams, Rainbow Serpent Dreaming, Possum and Kangaroo Dreaming
Michael was born in the bush at Pikilyi, west of Yuendumu. He lived with his family over the years in Haasts Bluff and then Yuendumu where he atteded the mission school. He went through his first rites of initaion about the age of thirteen and then left school to work; as a buffalo shooter near the East and South Alligator River plains, a truck driver, a cattle drover and the army before heading back to Papunya where he met his wife, Marjorie.
Michael's father died in 1976 and so Michael painted under the instruction of his uncle, Jack Tjupurrula. He won his first art award in 1984 and since then his works have been exhibited worldwide and are held in numerous collections.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra, ACT
South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA
1985
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
1986
Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
1986
Roar Studios, Melbourne, VIC
1987-1988
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1988
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
1988
Dreamings - the art of Aboriginal Australia, The Asia Society Galleries, NY, USA
1989
John Weber Gallery, New York City, USA
1989
Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico
1992
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1993
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
1998
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1999
Embassy Australia, Washington, USA
2000
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
2001
Icons of Australian Aboriginal Art, Singapore
2002
Gallerie Commines, Paris, France
1984
National Aboriginal Art Award
- Winner
1987
Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
- Commission
1988
National Parliament, Canberra, ACT
- Commission
1989
BMW car painting, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW
- Commission
1993
Australia Medal for services to Aboriginal Art
Birnberg, M. & Kreczmanski, JB.
(2004) Aboriginal Artists Dictionary of Biographies, J.B. Publishing Australia
Johnson, V.
(1994) Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert, A Biographical Dictionary, Craftsman House
