Yinarupa Nangala 1959
Lives in Western Desert, Australia. Works in Western Desert, Australia.
Represented by:
SmithDavidson Gallery
Yinarupa Nangala is a Pintupi woman who was born west of what is Kiwirrkurra community today, towards Jigalong. She is the daughter of one of Papunya Tula Artists great, Anatjari Tjampitjinpa; sister of Ray James Tjangala and half-sister (by Anatjari) to Mantua.
Yinarupa Nangala was a co-wife with, amongst other, Ningura Napurrula of another Papunya Tula great, Yala Yala Gibbs. Thus, she is also related by marriage into George Ward Tjungurrayi’s and Willy Tjungurrayi’s families.
Yinarupa started to paint in 1996, her motherhood duties being substantially complete. For some time she gained only moderate recognition for her works. This gradually changed in the late 2000s and by 2009 her somewhat austere style was finally being recognized for what it is, classic Pintupi art at its best.
She paints the country around Mukula and the women’s ceremony associated with it. The story is passed down from her father’s mother. The shapes in the painting represent the features of the country, as well as bush foods. Women are represented by the ‘U’ shapes and kampararpa berries are represented by the circles.
The tree like shapes that run across her paintings are the trees used to make spears. This is Yinarupa’s unique representation of the story that Turkey Tolsen and his sister, Mitjili Napurulla, paint (both of whom are also family).
Visit our website smith-davidson.com for more information.
Yinarupa started to paint in 1996, her motherhood duties being substantially complete. For some time she gained only moderate recognition for her works. This gradually changed in the late 2000s and by 2009 her somewhat austere style was finally being recognized for what it is, classic Pintupi art at its best.
She paints the country around Mukula and the women’s ceremony associated with it. The story is passed down from her father’s mother. The shapes in the painting represent the features of the country, as well as bush foods. Women are represented by the ‘U’ shapes and kampararpa berries are represented by the circles.
The tree like shapes that run across her paintings are the trees used to make spears. This is Yinarupa’s unique representation of the story that Turkey Tolsen and his sister, Mitjili Napurulla, paint (both of whom are also family).
Visit our website smith-davidson.com for more information.
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Artworks by Yinarupa Nangala
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Portrait of Yinarupa Nangala
(Indigenous Australian (Pintupi), born 1959)
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In museum collection:
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales
In corporate collection:
Luciano Benetton Collection
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Yinarupa Nangala's work has been exhibited widely in Australia and has been included in at major public collections nationally and worldwide, such as Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Nevada Museum of Art in USA. With SmithDavidson Gallery, her paintings were on display at the shows 'Ladies from Papunya' (2024) and 'Interwoven Worlds' in collaboration with Wolterinck Laren (2025). Yinarupa was the finalist for the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in various, and she won the General Painting Award in 2009. She was also the finalist for the Wynne Prize of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2014 and tje Western Australian Art Prize in 2009 and 2010.
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Selected Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
The Luczo Family Collection, USA
Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne, Australia
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, Australia
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, USA
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Sydney, Australia
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, USA
Selected Exhibitions
2025 - 'Interwoven Worlds', SmithDavidson Gallery X Wolterinck Laren, Laren, The Netherlands
2025 - 'Eternal Signs: Indigenous Australian Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection', Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, USA
2024 - 'Ladies from Papunya', SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2022 - 'Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Part 2', Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, USA
2018 - Sydney Contemporary 2018, Carriageworks, Sydney , Australia
2012 - 'Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community', Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2011 - 'Papunya Tula Women's Art', Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, Australia
2010 - 'Desert Country', Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
2008 - 'Ngurra Yurru Kulintjaku - Always Remembering Country', CCAE, Darwin, Australia
2008 - 'Pintupi - Mixed Exhibitions', Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Australia
2007 - The Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2007 - 'Pintupi - Mixed Exhibitions', Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Australia
2004 - The Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2001 - 'Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal Art', Comunidad de Madrid tourning exhibition, Spain
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
The Luczo Family Collection, USA
Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne, Australia
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, Australia
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, USA
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Sydney, Australia
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, USA
Selected Exhibitions
2025 - 'Interwoven Worlds', SmithDavidson Gallery X Wolterinck Laren, Laren, The Netherlands
2025 - 'Eternal Signs: Indigenous Australian Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection', Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, USA
2024 - 'Ladies from Papunya', SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2022 - 'Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Part 2', Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, USA
2018 - Sydney Contemporary 2018, Carriageworks, Sydney , Australia
2012 - 'Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community', Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2011 - 'Papunya Tula Women's Art', Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, Australia
2010 - 'Desert Country', Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
2008 - 'Ngurra Yurru Kulintjaku - Always Remembering Country', CCAE, Darwin, Australia
2008 - 'Pintupi - Mixed Exhibitions', Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Australia
2007 - The Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2007 - 'Pintupi - Mixed Exhibitions', Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Australia
2004 - The Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, Australia
2001 - 'Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal Art', Comunidad de Madrid tourning exhibition, Spain
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