George “Hairbrush” Tjungurrayi / Tingari

A Western Desert master renowned for minimalist artworks built from countless fine parallel lines. His wider practice maps ancestral Country and Tingari knowledge across the Gibson Desert and Kiwirrkurra region. His uncle, Charlie Tarawa Tjungurrayi, was among the senior men who painted the widely respected Papunya School murals in 1971 under the encouragement of teacher Geoffrey Bardon.

George (born c.1943) is widely regarded as one of the most significant living artists of the Western Desert and one of the leading figures to emerge from the Papunya Tula movement. Encouraged by founding Papunya Tula artist Nosepeg Tjupurrula, he gradually developed a highly individual approach that has become one of the most distinctive in Australian Aboriginal art. In 1962, he guided Welfare Branch patrol officer Jeremy Long across the desert to Papunya, demonstrating his intimate knowledge of the Country and its cultural pathways.