Churchill Cann / Bloodwood Yard

1947 – 2016

Churchill (Yoonany) was born on Texas Downs Station in 1947, where his father was a stockman and his mother worked in the station homestead. He spent most of his working life on Texas and followed his father’s footsteps as a valued stockman and horse-breaker. He also worked on Alice Downs, Mabel Downs, Spring Creek and Lissadel Stations. Along with Dougie McCale and Patrick Mung Mung, he eventually moved to Turkey Creek (Warmun Community). There he began to paint with his close friend Rover Thomas and with Jack Britten, Hector Jandany, Henry Wambini and the other male artists. He quickly became noticed for his individual style and went on to participate in many exhibitions, with his paintings now in galleries and collections worldwide.

Churchill was the Senior artist of a renowned family of ochre artists – his mother-in-law Betty Carrington and her husband Patrick Mung Mung, full sister Nancy Nodea, his former wife, International artist Sade Carrington and in particular their already famous daughter Charlene Carrington.

Churchill’s painting, “Arizona – Texas” appeared on the cover of an important publication about Aboriginal Art in both English and German, making him very sort after by European collectors. The book was titled “The Unseen in Scene” by the noted Elisabeth Bähr.

Churchill was a respected Elder, a healer, with amazing knowledge of his country and the traditional Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) stories associated with his Culture.

Chuchill passed away peacefully at home in January 2016 surround by his family after a long illness. Churchill was one of Australia’s most famous Ochre Artists, with an instantly recognisable style and the ability to blend every colour imaginable from the basic ochres found in his Kimberley region.

Selected Group and Solo Exhibitions

1994
– Australian Heritage Commission, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra

1998
– William Mora Gallery, Melbourne

1999
– Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
– Hale School Annual Art Exhibition, Perth
– Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
– Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
– Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin
– Short Street Gallery, Broome

2000
– Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra
– Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
– Art of the Aborigines, Leverkusen, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer)
– State of My Country, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
– The Collection, Aboriginal Fine Art & Weavings, Gallery Australis, Adelaide
– Dream Paths, Contemporary Painting, Australian Aborigines, Stadtische Gallery, Traunstein, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer)

2001
– The Unseen in Scene, Staditische Gallery Wolfsburg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer)
– Ochre Show, Short Street Gallery, Broome

2002
– Recounting the Essence of Life. Art from Australia,  Kunstforum HDZ, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer)
– The Strength & The Light.  Art from Australia.  New Art Association Aschaffenburg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr, Speyer)
– Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Australia
– Images and Identity, Ev. Academy Iserlohn, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bahr,Speyer)
– Span Galleries, Melbourne
– Thornquest Gallery, Southport
– Garmerrun: All Our Country, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide

2003
– Big Country. Works from the Flinders University Art Museum collection, Flinders University City Gallery, Adelaide
– Ngarrgoorroon, Yiyili and Yarrunga – Four Artists from Warmun, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney

2004
– The Essence of Things.  City Gallery Bamberg Villa Dessauer, Bamberg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baher, Speyer)

2006
– Gentlemen Of Warmun, featuring works by Churchill Cann, Patrick Mung Mung, Clancy Patrick, Beerbee Mungnari, Gordon Barney and Tommy Carroll, Seva Frangos Art, Perth

2007
– All Around Texas Downs, Churchill Cann, Charlene Carrington and Phyllis Thomas, Japingka Gallery, Perth

Selected Collections
– Artbank, Sydney
– Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles
– Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
– University of Wollongong
– Private and Corporate Collections Worldwide

The yards at Bloodwood are still there – big wooden yards made long time ago – all by hand, no machinery for making those yards – just crowbars and that sort of thing. The yards are near Bloodwood Bore, but going towards the Nine Mile. The trucks could come in this way to pick up the cattle – roads from Mabel Downs way not too bad. At Nine Mile, there is an old Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) story about a dog who lived right up on top of the hills jumping down and running all the way to Nine Mile. In the Dreamtime, the animals were people, so the story is really about an old man who lived in these parts.