Kudditji Kngwarreye 1938-2017

Kudditji Kngwarreye was a senior man from the Eastern Anmatyerre country of Alhalkere, on the Utopia homelands region of the Northern Territory. Kudditji was younger brother to the famous Aboriginal artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Kudditji’s paintings represent the deep knowledge of his traditional country around Boundary Bore, near to Ooratippra Creek, for which he was a custodian. 

Drawing from the depth of his knowledge of his Country, Kudditji began to experiment with acrylic paint, moving beyond the traditional dotting style that he had used prior to 2003. Taking a heavily laden paint brush and sweeping broadly across the canvas in stages, he began to evoke lyrical images of Country, accentuating the colour and form of the landscape, the depth of the sky in the rainy season and the reds and oranges of the shimmering summer heat. These groundbreaking paintings express Kudditji’s intimate knowledge and love of his country in a richly textured and highly innovative way.