Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery – Sambo BARRA BARRA Amy JIRWULURR JOHNSON
(In House Catalogue)
Ngukurr - 'the place of stones' - is an Aboriginal settlement on the Rope River, in the Northern Territory. In a little over a decade it has established itself as one of the most exciting artistic communities in Australia. The work produced there has a vigour and individuality that is instantly reconisable. It is the home of such important artists as Gertie Huddlestone, Willie Gudabi, Ginger Riley Muduwalawala and Angelina George. But amongst the contending visions, none is more powerful that that of Sambo Barra Barra.
Barra Barra was born at Nillipigee in Central Arnhem Land in about 1946. His language inherited from his father - is Wagilak. He moved to Ngukurr at the beginning of the 1980s. The settlement, established in 1908 as an Anglican Mission, had evolved by then into a local administrative centre for many different Aboriginal language groups. At the time of Barra Barra's arrival there was little artistic activity in Ngukurr: only the Mini Arts & Crafts shop in the not-so nearby town Katherine provided a modest outlet for traditional carved artefacts.
In 1993 Barra Barra burst onto the international scene when his work was exhibited as part of the ARATJARA exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, and then toured to Germany and Denmark. Barra Barra has established himself as one of the senior painters at Ngukurr. Although he provides no formal teaching he admits that other artists sometimes watch him at work. And he occasionally collaborates with his wife, and fellow artist, Amy Jirwulurr Johnson on a single canvas. His own work continues to grow in richness and strength.
Rebecca Hossack, London 1999
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