Jack Nawilil

Jack Nawilil

Biography

Mayali and Rembarrnga artist Kamarrang Jack Nawilil is a senior member of the Balngarra clan, who lives and works at Bolkjdam, an outstation located near Maningrida community in central Arnhem Land. A song man and cultural leader, he works across painting on bark, carved sculpture and ceremonial objects such as mularra (morning star poles), mako (didgeridoo), lorrkkon (hollow logs) and body adornments using feathers, native beeswax and hand-spun bark fibre string. Common subjects of his work include representations of significant spirit beings, such as wyarra (skeleton), wurum (fish-increasing) and namorrodo (profane) spirits, and important ancestors, including the female creator ancestor Ngalkodjek who travelled from Elcho Island in the East.

The narratives represented in Nawilil’s artworks are extremely complex and often antithetical to Western knowledge systems. His artworks reference and manifest multiple places, clans and events that span vast distances and timeframes. To audiences who are not initiated and socialised in bininj (Aboriginal) cultural practices and history, the true and complete meanings of these artworks cannot be fully grasped. His artworks challenge the viewer to grapple with a different way of being in, and understanding, the world.

Nawilil’s work is held in public and private collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. He has exhibited with commercial galleries around Australia and overseas for nearly four decades.

Community

Maningrida

Subsection

Maningrida

Date of birth

1945-01-01

Clan

Balngarra

Artworks for sale

Past Exhibitions

Group

  • 2023
    Two masters of Maningrida ArtsEverywhen Artspace
  • 2022
    Spirit in BarkKoskela Gallery Rosebery
  • 2021
    The Summer Collector’s Show 2022Everywhen Artspace
  • 2021
    The 66th Blake PrizeCasula Powerhouse Arts Centre
  • 2020
    Tarnanthi Art FairLot Fourteen, Adelaide SA
  • 2020
    Connected: MCA CollectionMuseum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
  • 2020
    Maningrida Arts & CultureMichael Reid, Sydney, NSW
  • 2020
    RESILIENCE: The power of the past today – ManingridaAboriginal Signature Estrangin Fine Art, Brussels, BELGUIM
  • 2018
    From Coast to Escarpment: Spirit Worlds of ManingridaMichael Reid, Sydney, NSW
  • 2016
    Owen Yalandja, Bob Burruwal, Jack Nawilil: New Yawkyawk Spirits and SculpturesAnnandale Gallery, Sydney, Australia
  • 2012
    29th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award ExhibitionMuseum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
  • 2012
    First Life – Unwordly EncountersChan Contemporary art space, Darwin, NT
  • 2009
    Ochre – A Study in MaterialityShort Street Gallery, Broome, WA
  • 2009
    Maningrida Group ShowManingrida Arts & Culture Gallery, Darwin, NT
  • 2008
    Palya Art at Mary PlaceMary Place, Sydney, NSW
  • 2006
    Bangu Yilbara: Works from the MCA CollectionMuseum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
  • 2002
    Barks in the spotlightUtrecht, The Netherlands
  • 1999
    My Country: Australische Aboriginal KunstBrandweer Kazerne, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 1996
    Dreaming: Aboriginal Art from AustraliaGalerie Kouwenhoven, Delft, Netherlands
  • 1996
    Maningrida ExhibitionIndigenart, Subiaco, WA
  • 1994
    Gemaltes Land: Kunst der Aborigines aus Arnhem Land AustralienLinden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany
  • 1994
    Maningrida CollectionMuseum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
  • 1989
    MasterpieceFine Art Gallery, Hobart, TAS
  • 1982
    Aboriginal Art at the TopMuseum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

Collections

  • National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
  • Aimee Proost private collection, Qld
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Maningrida Collection, Sydney, NSW
  • Walonia Aboriginal Art, Netherlands
  • Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
  • Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT