Editions Arts d'Australie • Stéphane Jacob, 2014
In association with Suzanne O'Connell, Brisbane
Texts : Maurice O’Riordan
Bilingual text: English - French
Format / Dimensions 26 x 21 cm
ISBN : 978-2-9544576-5-9

‘Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri (b. 1957) is the eldest son of Ningura Napurrula (c.1938-2013) and Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi (c.1924-1998) who was among the first group of Western Desert artists to paint for an outside audience at Papunya in the early 1970s, instigating what is now commonly referred to as the desert acrylic movement and understood as the birth of contemporary Aboriginal art. After assisting her husband for many years on his paintings Ningura’s own artistic career from the mid-90s signaled a new wave of women artists reinvigorating Papunya Tula Artists. Ningura’s paintings have earned high acclaim within Australia and internationally as shown by her large-scale commissioned work for the Musée du Quai Branly.
In his Paris debut exhibition, one may see Morris’s strong artistic pedigree as much more a blessing than a curse. His work celebrates the classical desert iconography of his father while bearing the hallmark of his mother’s bold graphic style.’ Maurice O’Riordan