Karen Napaljarri Barnes / Ngatijirri Jukurrpa – Budgerigar Dreaming (4099-24)

Artwork is accompanied by Warlukurlangu Artists (Yuendumu) Art Centre Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance

Karen Napaljarri Barnes is part of the exciting next generation of artists to emerge from Warlukurlangu, an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, located 290km North West from Alice Springs along the Tanami Highway. Karen moved to Yuendumu once completing school in Lajamanu and started painting for Warlukurlangu in 2001. When Karen first started painting, she would sit every day next to her grandmother, esteemed artist Judy Napangardi Watson who would not only encourage her to paint but teach her all the important cultural stories and traditions.

Karen paints the dreaming stories handed down to her by her family for generations, stories which come from Mina Mina, country west of Yuendumu of which her family are the custodians. For Karen, painting retains a closeness with these stories and her family, particularly her grandmother.

In recent years, Karen has caught the attention of the Australian art scene with her depictions of Budgerigar Dreaming (Ngatijirri Jukurrpa). Karen uses a more realistic depiction of the birds and a very abstract representation of the landscape, favouring bold and contrasting colours. Whilst her compositions may appear simplistic, her quizzical critters are works of great charm and presence. Karen’s distinctive style extends an existing Warlukurlangu reputation for innovative colour, of which her grandmother was one of the founding trailblazers.

Karen has extended her repertoire and has taken great delight in depicting the animals that live around Yuendumu. Each critter is simply bursting with character and expression, making her work incredibly appealing and memorable.

We look forward to what the future holds for Karen.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
• 2023 Warlpiri Artists from Yuendumu, Japingka Gallery, Freemantle
• 2023 A Cacophony of Colour 2023, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2023 Karen Napaljarri Barnes Solo Exhibition, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2022 A Cacophony of Colour 2022: A Karen Napaljarri Barnes solo exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2021 A Cacophony of Colour 2021: A Karen Napaljarri Barnes solo exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2020 A Cacophony of Colour 2020: A Karen Napaljarri Barnes solo exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 Quizzical Critters | Karen Napaljarri Barnes, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 A Cacophony of colour, A Karen Napaljarri Barnes solo exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2018 Karen Napaljarri Barnes ‘Budgerigar Dreaming’ Online Exhibition, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

Selected Group Exhibitions
• 2024 Great Warlpiri Colourists, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2024 Celebrating Women, Yaama Gang Gallery, Moree NSW
• 2024 Top 20 2024, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2023 Warlukurlangu | Rarrlyparlu (Open Heart), Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree
• 2023 Celebrating Country | Women Artists of Art Mob, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2023 Top 20 of 2022, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2022 Tanami Today, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2022 Top 20 2022, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2021 Desert Mob 30, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2021 Aboriginal Art Exhibition – From the Desert to the Sea, Gallery One, Southport, QLD
• 2021 Top 20 2021, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2020 Across the Top 2020, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2020 Dorothy’s Daughters and Friends, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2020 Top 20 Exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 Across the Top, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 Songlines XXXI: Wing, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London
• 2019 The Children of the Warlpiri, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 Top 20 from 2018, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 The Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
• 2018 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
• 2018 Across the Top, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2018 Top 20 from 2017, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2017 Top 20 from 2016, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2010 Exposition d’art aborigene d’Australie, IDAIA and Galerie Princesse de Kiev, France
• 2010 Warlukurlangu Artists @ Grassi, Leipzig, Germany
• 2010 Artitja Fine Art Exhibition, Perth
• 2010 Walukurlangu Artists Tour – ARTKELCH, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig, Freiburg, Germany
• 2010 30 under 30, Mossenson Gallery, Melbourne
• 2010 Jukurrpa – Our Story. National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Tandanya, Adelaide
• 2010 Youth of Yuendumu, Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla
• 2009 Palya Art at Gallows Gallery, Gallows Gallery, Perth
• 2009 Warlukurlangu Survey Show, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
• 2009 Desert Dreamings, Open Palm Court Gallery, New Delhi, India
• 2008 Yuendumu, Emerging Artists, Better World Arts, Port Adelaide
• 2008 Warkukurlangu Artists, Established & Emerging Artists, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
• 2008 Opening Doors into Colourful Dreamtime, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
• 2008 The Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2007 Stocking, Artereal, Sydney
• 2007 Australian Aboriginal Artists from the Central Desert, Jeffrey Moose Gallery, Seattle WA, USA
• 2007 Bush Tucker, Artereal, Sydney
• 2007 Desert Mob, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
• 2007 Shalom Gamarada Aboriginal Art Exhibition, Shalom College, Sydney
• 2007 Vivid Visions, Warlpiri women from Yuendumu and yonder, Cooe Aboriginal Art, Sydney
• 2007 The Women’s Show, Vivienne Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
• 2006 Christmas Show, Northern Territory & Outback Centre, Sydney
• 2006 Warlpiri Artists of Yuendumu, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• 2006 Journey to Mina Mina, Gallery Gondwana, Sydney
• 2006 Warlukurlangu Artists, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney
• 2006 Warlukurlangu Artists, Mason Gallery, Darwin
• 2006 Desert Mob, Aralauen Art & Cultural Centre, Alice Springs
• 2006 Senior Women’s Work, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
• 2006 Recent Works from Yuendumu, Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane
• 2006 Paintings from the Fire Country, Birrung Gallery, Sydney
• 2006 Artists of Yuendumu, Australia’s Outback Gallery, NT & Outback Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Awards and Recognition
• 2024 Alice Art Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs – Finalist

Collections
• Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Motiers, Switzerland

The Jukurrpa site shown in this painting for Ngatijirri (budgerigar) is at Yangarnmpi, south of Yuendumu. ‘Ngatijirri’ are small, bright green birds native to central Australia which are common around the Yuendumu area, especially after the summer rains. Men would hunt for ‘ngatijirri’ nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, which are both considered delicacies. The men would also go out hunting for adult, flying ‘ngatijirri’, which they would kill by swinging branches, killing sticks or ‘karli’ (boomerangs) to hit the birds in flight. The ‘ngatijirri’ travelled to Yangarnmpi from Patirlirri, near Willowra to the east of Yuendumu and travelled further on to Marngangi, north/west of Mount Dennison and west of Yuendumu.Each time the flock of ancestral ‘ngatijirri’ lands, they perform ceremonies, singing and dancing as they fly and roost in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in this painting as concentric circles, while cross-like shapes depict the footprints of the birds on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks of ‘ngatijirri’ that can be found near Yangarnmpi and other sites close to Yuendumu. After good rains ‘ngatijirri’ can successfully breed several times, resulting in an explosion of the population in a short time. Custodians for the Ngatijirri Jukurrpa are Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women and Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men.