Lives Of The Papunya Tula Artists

Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists by Vivien Johnson presents, as never before, the biographies of over 200 Western Desert painters from the world-acclaimed Papunya Tula Artists company in Alice Springs. Established in 1972 as a co-operative of 35 painters, Papunya Tula Artists is the founding crucible of the stunning Australian desert painting movement. Today the company flourishes as a multi-million dollar Aboriginal-controlled cultural enterprise. As art writer Nicolas Rothwell observed earlier this year, the desert paintings need to be seen as the works of “…artists with biographies, with life histories and personal challenges surrounding them.” This book uniquely answers this call – the artists come to life as painters with distinctive personalities, family histories, imaginations and artistic trajectories.