Namponan, Garry
Date of Birth
1960
Place Of Birth
Aurukun/Queensland/Australia
Biographical Display
Garry Namponan was born at the Presbyterian mission at Aurukun, on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. His clan is Apalech and his language groups are Wik-Alkan on his Father’s side and Wik-Ngathan on his Mother’s side. His traditional homelands are south of Aurukun: Aayk, Kirk River and Cape Keer-Weer, which is the location of his family home. Namponan works across a range of media including sculpture, printmaking, book illustration and painting.
Garry studied art at the Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Northern Territory in the early 1980s and is one of the leading carvers of the Wik and Kugu Art and Craft Centre at Aurukun. Since 2002, his work has been included in around ten group exhibitions in Australia and Germany. Major exhibitions include:
• Imagine… the creativity shaping our culture, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2006)
• Storyplace: Indigenous art of Cape York and the rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery (2003)
•Native title business, Queensland Museum, and touring nationally (2002–05).
Garry Namponan’s figurative timber sculptures of camp dogs, dingos and birds are life-size representations of figures of potent religious and spiritual significance. These archetypal figures stand for drama-filled creation narratives of personal importance.
The artist has worked on a number of government and public art commissions including Kank inum–Nink inum (Old way–New way) for the Commonwealth Government (2002); Country in mind: Five contemporary Aboriginal artists, Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne (2007).In 2006 Garry participated in a printmaking workshop at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne. His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria; the National Maritime Museum, Sydney; and the Queensland Art Gallery.
Feb 2013, BAG Board Meeting papers
Garry studied art at the Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Northern Territory in the early 1980s and is one of the leading carvers of the Wik and Kugu Art and Craft Centre at Aurukun. Since 2002, his work has been included in around ten group exhibitions in Australia and Germany. Major exhibitions include:
• Imagine… the creativity shaping our culture, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2006)
• Storyplace: Indigenous art of Cape York and the rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery (2003)
•Native title business, Queensland Museum, and touring nationally (2002–05).
Garry Namponan’s figurative timber sculptures of camp dogs, dingos and birds are life-size representations of figures of potent religious and spiritual significance. These archetypal figures stand for drama-filled creation narratives of personal importance.
The artist has worked on a number of government and public art commissions including Kank inum–Nink inum (Old way–New way) for the Commonwealth Government (2002); Country in mind: Five contemporary Aboriginal artists, Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne (2007).In 2006 Garry participated in a printmaking workshop at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne. His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria; the National Maritime Museum, Sydney; and the Queensland Art Gallery.
Feb 2013, BAG Board Meeting papers
