Willy Tjungurrayi

Willy Tjungurrayi (c1930 - 2018) was born at Patjantja, south west of Lake Mackay in the Central Australian desert, near the edge of the Great Sandy Desert. This area holds great spiritual significance and is an integral part of First Nations cultural heritage.

Willy grew up in the bush living a traditional life and was brought with his family to Haasts Bluff in the late 1950's when he was a young man. 

He moved to Papunya where he started painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1976. In the 1980's he emerged as one of the senior Pintupi painters, depicting stories linked to the Tingari Song Cycles. 

His senior position in his community entitled him to paint the most important parts of the Tingari dreaming stories and painted with a restrained palette (browns, oranges, dusky pinks and creams) typical of many of the Papunya artists.

His later work shifted in composition and comprised irregular lines of very fine, pale dotting on a coloured background, resulting in subtle, elegant, linear images.

He was the younger brother of Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungarrayi (dec) and the older brother of George Ward Tjungurrayi, both also established artists.

Sadly, Willy Tjungurrayi passed away in 2018.

'CONTOURS' GROUP EXHIBITION (SEP - OCT 2025)
'SENIOR ARTISTS OF THE WESTERN DESERT' (JUNE 2024)
'IMPORTANT ABORIGINAL ART #1' (JUNE - JULY 2022)
'MINIMALISM IN ABORIGINAL ART' EXHIBITION (APRIL 2022)