On View Magazine 07-09.2015 | Page 58

BOXER MILNER TJAMPITJIN,
Jaru. Born ca.1935. Died 2009.
Walkirr, 2000. Synthetic
polymer paint on canvas, 47 x 31”,
© 2014 Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York/VISCOPY, Australia.

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movement. Each artist was a
respected senior Lawman—
a special kind of guide who
is knowledgeable in every
aspect of Aboriginal ceremonial traditions—and used this
knowledge to create a body
of work that stands alongside
that of their contemporaries in
Europe and the US.
As Ian McLean provocatively asserts in his contribution
to the exhibition catalogue,
“These paintings are aimed at
the Western world with all the
power and accuracy of a wellthrown spear.” They are not
sentinels protecting a disappearing regime of knowledge;
they are occupying forces,
spreading their message with
persuasive affect.”
One of the artists included in
the collection is Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (born ca. 1958),
whose work was included in
dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel,
Germany, in 2012. This was
a highpoint in Tjapaltjarri’s
career, which began in 1986,
only a few short years after
making international headlines
as a member of the “Pintupi
Nine”—one of the last groups