Ronnie Tjampitjinpa b. 1943 west of the Kintore Ranges, WA

  • Artist (Painter)
Pintupi artist and homelands activist who developed into one of Papunya Tula Artist's leading painters in the late 1980s. He had his first solo show at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in 1989 and was included in the the 1993 "Australia Perspecta". He is represented in major public and private collections.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1994
Name
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Birth date
c.1943
Birth place
west of the Kintore Ranges, WA
Gender
Male
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • c.1985- Ininti (Redbank), NT
  • c.1981- c.1985 Walungurru (Kintore), NT
  • Mt Doreen, NT
  • Yuendumu, Northern Territory, Yuendumu, NT
  • c.1961- c.1981 Papunya, NT
Other Occupation
  • Chairman: Kintore Outstation Council
  • Labourer
Active Period
  • c.1971-
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
Yes
Initial Record Data Source
  • Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert: A Biographical Dictionary

Born c.1943 west of the Kintore Ranges across the WA border, Ronnie and his family travelled throughout this region and also in the area around Lake Mackay in the NT. He was initiated at Yumari. Ronnie and his younger brother Smithy Zimran came in from the bush at Yuendumu, and later joined relatives living in Papunya, where Ronnie worked as a labourer. Ronnie painted a few works in the early years of the painting movement but his main focus in the 1970s was returning to his traditional lands, a move which was made possible with the establishment of Kintore in 1981. Ronnie moved there with his family in the early ’80s, and subsequently emerged as one of the Papunya Tula Artists’ major painters. In 1988 he won the Alice Springs Art Prize. In 1989, he had his first solo exhibition at the Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, travelling to Melbourne for the exhibition, and was included 'Australian Perspecta 1993’ at the Art Gallery of NSW. Chairman of the Kintore Outstation Council in this period, Ronnie’s outstation at Redbank (Ininti) was also home to Kenny Williams , whom he taught to paint in acrylics.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien Note: primary biographer
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Smithy Zimran
1949
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa
1950
Artist (Painter)
sibling of
Smithy Zimran
1949
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Papunya Tula Artists
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Collections
Australian Perspecta 1993
1993
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
1989
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Citations:
  • Johnson, V., (2008), Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists, (Place: IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT ISBN 978 1 86465 090 7url: http://www/iadpress.com) http://www.iadpress.com