An iconic exhibition exploring stories of Country from late Aboriginal artist Kunmanara Carroll opens at Manly Art Gallery & Museum this month.
As part of the JamFactory ICON series, Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) by Kunmanara Carroll will be on display from 21 April – 4June 2023.
JamFactory’s Icon series is an annual solo exhibition celebrating the achievements of South Australia’s most influential artists working in craft-based media.
I Can See All Those Places celebrates this South Australian Luritja/ Pintupi/ Pitjantjatjara artist, who worked at Ernabella Arts at Pukatja in the APY Lands.
These masterful ceramics and paintings merge Carroll’s deep knowledge of Country, with his intricate yet minimalist style.
Mayor Michael Regan said this is a significant body of work that combines Carroll’s captivating paintings and ceramics, supported by a magnificent tapestry produced by the Australian Tapestry Workshop.
“We are one of just 12 galleries in Australia to host the exhibition and we’re honoured to show this incredible artist’s last body of work. His terrific legacy lives on in this work and is sure to inspire generations of artists to come. Having previously been shown at the National Gallery of Australia it is a great coup to have such iconic work on show at Manly Art Gallery & Museum,” Mayor Regan said.
In 2017, a creative project titled Mark and Memory saw Carroll return to his grandmother’s and father’s Country, Carroll’s custodial country near Kintore (NT) and Kiwirrkura (WA). This was the first time he had returned to these custodial lands since leaving the region.
On the trip he travelled with fellow Ernabella artist Derek Jungarrayi Thompson, visiting sites between Kintore, Kiwirrkura, and Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay).
The major subjects that Carroll returns to are mystical and organic, drawn from nature, country and story. Among them is Walungurru the sand-dune terrain of his Father’s Country, near Kintore in the Northern Territory. Paintings and ceramics of Walungurru feature Wanampi, the water serpent. Carroll also honours Ininti, which refers in contour and colour range of the desert bean tree and its environment. The Ininti tree is prevalent in the Kintore region, and this work references Yumari a site located west of Walungurru. Yumari literally means mother-in-law in Luritja and refers to the rocky country of Ilpili.
The exhibition is accompanied by a monograph co-published by the JamFactory and Wakefield Press.
It is an unmissable major solo show of Kunmanara Carroll’s ceramic works and paintings.
The exhibition will be opened by JamFactory
