Munurru (Rough)

2005

Australian Aboriginal, Manggalili clan, Djarrakpi, Northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, born 1951

Maymuru pulls us into high tide in deep water, where currents are colliding and flickering slivers of light bounce off the surface. Throughout the twisting ribbons of current, the artist utilizes a sacred signature in crosshatched patterns that belong to her clan. Women paint such patterns on each other's chests when they are in a state of fasting - during funerals or initiations.

--Pam McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, 2015

Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark

64 9/16 x 30 5/16 in. (164 x 77 cm)

Gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan

2019.20.19

Provenance: [Annandale Galleries, Annandale, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2007

Photo: iocolor, Seattle

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, May 31 - Sept. 12, 2012 (Nashville, Tenessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, June 23 - Oct. 15, 2017; Madison, Wisconsin, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Jan. 26 - Apr. 22, 2018; Austin, Texas, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, June 3 - Sept. 9, 2018; Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Audain Art Museum, Oct. 5, 2018 - Jan. 28, 2019). Text by Pamela McClusky, Wally Caruana, Lisa Graziose Corrin, and Stephen Gilchrist. Cat. no. 19, pp. 90-91, reproduced.

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