Michael Reid Tjapanangka
Michael Reid Tjapanangka
BORN
1990, ALICE SPRINGS
COUNTRY
PINTUPI
COMMUNITY
KINTORE, NT AND KIWIRRKURA, WA
LANGUAGE
PINTUPI
About
Michael Reid Tjapanangka was born in Alice Springs. He was ‘grown up’ as a child by the famous painter Doreen Reid Nakamarra in Kintore and later Kiwirrkura, and her early influence is apparent in his work. The young artist shows extraordinary promise, painting intermittently for Papunya Tula Artists when in Kintore.
Michael has already established an impressive exhibiting history, with works featured in exhibitions in Australia and internationally. In 2009, his work was selected for the exhibition, ‘Nganana Tjungurringanyi Tjukurrpa Nintintjakitja – We Are Here Sharing Our Dreaming’ at 80 Washington Square East Galleries (New York, USA), and in 2010, for ‘Papunya Tula Artists: Art of the Western Desert’ at Harvey Art Projects USA (Idaho, USA).
Michael’s work has also been exhibited at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi (Melbourne), Utopia Art (Sydney) and ReDot Gallery (Singapore).
WORK
Michael Reid’s work, ‘Rockhole site of Tarkul’ depicts designs related to the rockhole and soakage water site of Tarkul, north of Mt Webb in Western Australia. During ancestral times, a large group of Tingari men camped at this site before travelling east to Pinari. The Tingari Song Cycle is a secret-sacred mythology, the specifics of which are only known to initiated Pintupi. In general, the Tingari are a group of ancestral Dreaming beings who travelled over vast stretches of country, creating, and transforming the landscape through their movements.
Michael’s striking use of line and stark monochrome palette create the entrancing effect of pulsating movement in this work. The artist’s interconnecting geometric lines evoke a labyrinthine form, the motif symbolic of a journey or pilgrimage to a predetermined site – much like the travels of the Tingari. Though the esoteric meaning of this work remains secret, the symbolism is universal – the artist’s maze of brushstrokes guiding the viewer on a journey across the Pintupi homelands.
