Johnny Tjupurrula Warangkula b. 1920 Minjilpirri

Also known as:
  • Johnny Warangula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warrangula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warankula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warrangula Tjaparula
  • Johnny W. Tjupurrula
  • W. Johnny
  • Artist (Painter)
One of the founders of Papunya Tula Artists and most renowned painters of the desert art movement, whose signature techniques of overdotting produced effects of "tremulous illusion".
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1994
Name
Johnny Tjupurrula Warangkula
Also known as:
  • Johnny Warangula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warrangula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warankula Tjupurrula
  • Johnny Warrangula Tjaparula
  • Johnny W. Tjupurrula
  • W. Johnny
Birth date
c.1920
Birth place
Minjilpirri
Death date
2001
Death place
None
Burial place
Papunya, NT
Gender
Unspecified
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • Papunya, NT
  • Mt Wedge
  • Yuendumu, Northern Territory, Yuendumu, NT
  • Mt Liebig
  • Haasts Bluff
  • Hermannsburg mission, NT
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
Yes
Heritage Country
  • Kalipinypa
  • Tjikari
Dreaming
  • Nyalpilala
  • Nyilppi
  • Egret
  • Fire
  • Yam
  • Water
Initial Record Data Source
  • Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert: A Biographical Dictionary
Copyright
  • Papunya Tula Artists

Born at Mintjilpirri c 1920. As a child, Johnny lived a traditional lifestyle in the desert, never attending European school. He told me his mother was of mixed Luritja/Warlpiri/Pintupi descent and his father was Luritja/Warlpiri. He recalled his first frightened contact with whites as a big boy hiding in the trees from a plane which his people took for a “mamu” or devil. Later, the family moved in to Hermannsburg mission, where Johnny worked as a labourer constructing the airstrip. During the family’s stay at Hermannsburg, Johnny passed through the ceremonies for manhood.

From there he moved to Haasts Bluff for the construction of another airstrip, and more labouring work. He followed the road making to Mt Liebig, Yuendumu and Mt Wedge and later worked on the construction programs of various settlements. In 1954 he and Nosepeg Tjupurrula were chosen as Aboriginal representatives to meet the Queen. He was living in Haasts Bluff when the bulk of the population was moved to the new settlement of Papunya in 1960.

When Geoffrey Bardon arrived at the Papunya settlement in 1971, Johnny soon made known to him his interest in obtaining art materials. He rapidly developed a distinctive personal style of overdotting, often several layers, creating effects of what Bardon called “tremulous illusion”. He remained a major force in the painting movement until the mid ’80s, when his output was reduced by failing eyesight. Johnny’s work often depicted events around Tjikarri, Yipa, Kilyalnga and the Ehrenberg Ranges (Ilypili and Kampurarrnga) where he had established one of the first outstations in Central Australia. His work often depicts the Water Dreaming stories, notably Kalipinypa, as well as Yam, Fire and Egret stories and stories from around Nyilppi and Nyalpilala – his father’s Dreaming. Johnny lived in Papunya with his second wife Gladys Napanangka . He had two daughters from a previous marriage and two sons and six daughters from his marriage to Gladys.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Nosepeg Tjupurrula
1915
Artist (Painter)
spouse of
Gladys Napanangka
1930
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Geoffrey Bardon
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
grandparent of
Watson Corby Tjungurrayi
1973
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Charlie Tjapaltjarri Egalie
1940
associate of
Ray Tjampitjinpa Inkamala
1920
Artist (Painter)
grandparent of
Ray Tjampitjinpa Inkamala
1920
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Shorty Tjungarrayi Lungkarda
1920
Artist (Painter)
parent of
Minnie Nakamarra
1966
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
parent of
Narlie Nakamarra
1948
Artist (Weaver), Maker (Jewellery Designer), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Gladys Napanangka
1930
Artist (Painter)
relative of
Maureen Poulson Napangarti
1953
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Pansy Napangati
1945
Artist (Painter)
parent of
Dennis Nelson
1962
Artist (Painter)
parent of
Candy Nelson
1964
Artist (Painter)
sibling of
Dick Tjupurrula Pantimas
1935
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Kaapa Tjampitjinpa
1925
Artist (Carver), Artist (Painter)
Collections
Citations:
  • Bardon, Geoffrey and Bardon, James, (2004), Papunya: A Place Made After the Story; The Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement, (Place: Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, VIC ISBN-10 : 0-522-85110-X / ISBN-13: 978-0522851106)
  • Johnson, V., (2008), Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists, (Place: IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT ISBN 978 1 86465 090 7) http://www.iadpress.com