To view the full catalogue of artworks by this artist email us
Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa
Born 1950- Kiwirrkura. Now lives and works at Intinti, NT
His meticulous painting technique of linear geometric designs in delicate earthy tones are hypnotic and replicate those used for decorating shields, boomerangs and "tjuringa".
The eldest of two children of Naata Nungurrayi, Kenny spent his
boyhood travelling with his family in the lands surrounding
Wilkinkarra, until they were taken to Papunya by a welfare patrol
in 1963 with most of the Anatjari Tjampitjinpa group. He moved to
Balgo Hills during the 1970s together with a group of Pintupi
people, but eventually returned to Papunya. Then, with his older
brother Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, he transferred to the Intinti
outstation west of Kintore.
Kenny began his painting career in 1988 while at Papunya, where he
was a member and Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists for many years.
He depicts his tribal country around the area of Kiwirrkura and his
father's country, Yirrukurlu, located south of the Pollock
Hills. His dreamings include a Python story and Ngamanpura, a
swamp west of Kintore, where a blackberry of the same name is found
in favourable seasons.
His meticulous painting technique of linear geometric designs in
delicate earthy tones are hypnotic and replicate those used for
decorating shields, boomerangs and "tjuringa" - sacred stone
implements.
In 2000 Kenny Williams was awarded the Telstra National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. He also participated in the
exhibition "Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius", held at Sydney's Art
Gallery of New South Wales in the same year. In 2001 he
exhibited in Aborigena at the Palazzo Bricherasio in Turin, Italy.
He is represented in the collections of the Art Gallery of New
South Wales, Sydney, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern
Territory, Darwin, and in Artbank, Sydney, as well as in many
private collections.
