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Lot description
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Peter Marralwanga resided for most of his life at the remote outstation of Marrkolidjban in Western Arnhem Land, forging a close friendship with the great bark painter David Yirawala. It was under Yirawala+IBk-s tutelage that, around 1970, Marralwanga began to transfer his great ceremonial knowledge onto barks that were sold for an income that proved vital for the economic viability of their outstation. Marralwanga was greatly influenced by Yirawala, particularly in the use of cross-hatching or rarrk in-fill derived from the designs of the Mardayin ceremony. Marralwanga was innovative with his rarrk techniques and empowered many of the next generation of artists, such as John Mawurndjul and his own sons Ivan Namirrkki and Samuel Namunjdja to continue experimentation and invention in their works. However, Marralwanga differed from these younger artists in that his compositions always centred upon the figurative, to which the rarrk designs remained subservient while altering the formal convention of the rarrk+IBk-s colour sequencing and orientation in order to illuminate, to its utmost, the flow and movement of the figure. Marralwanga+IBk-s scope of subjects was diverse and revealed a profound and deeply spiritual knowledge. He was a truly great painter who lived and died before Aboriginal art gained its current national and International prominence. In 1981 and 1983, he had solo exhibitions with Mary Macha at Aboriginal Traditional Arts in Perth. He was second only in recognition to his lifelong friend and countryman Yirawala as the most influential Kunwinjku artists of their generation. +IBw Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.