Patjantja 19-180

Bob is distinguished by the freedom of his composition and his stylistic application of colour, which happens at a frenetic and decisive pace. He carves up the canvas, creating wild shapes in an evocative and highly contemporary reinterpretation of country.

Bob enjoys telling the stories from his father’s country around Patjarr and his mother's country Kulkurta. This work is about two snakes and two men who travelled north to Karrkurinkitja. As the party travelled, some strangers came up behind them and the snakes fled. Then Kurningka (boss of the Tingari men) went looking. The clouds were coming towards them. The snakes were travelling fast and the water was rising, and the lady snake went in the ant's hole but the other snake was left outside. Kurningka was saying, ‘water is coming closer’ but the other snake was too big for the hole. The Kurningka cut the snake and a lot of fat came out.

The free brush strokes and loose lines evident in this canvas dance around each other displaying the distinctive and compelling liveliness of his work.

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Bob Gibson Tjungarrayi was born at Papaya in 1974, before moving with his family to Tjukurla during the Papunya Tula movement of the 1980s, where many Ngaanyatjarra people moved to be closer to their ancestral homelands. Bob's mother Mary Gibson, also a leading Tjarlirli artist, is from the country of Kulkurta, his father’s country was near Patjarr.

Bob has been painting with Tjarlirli Art since 2007 and quickly found a unique rhythm and approach to painting; bold colours and an inimitable freedom, expressing ancient stories with contemporary flair. Bob is a vibrant character who is well loved within his community and offers support to many family members. He is a keen Sydney Swans supporter and loves listening to all music, especially the local bush bands.

Looking at a Bob Gibson painting feels a little like spending time with the artist himself. Bob’s bold, playful presence in the studio is contagious; each canvas brings wild shapes and expressive line met with decisive mark-making and confident realisation of country. His highly unique representations of tjukurpa are an intersection of traditional storytelling and a spirited contemporary artistic practice. This work is important as it speaks to the complex layers and tensions between cultural, historical and modern influences.

Collections

Queensland Art Gallery
GOMA
Aquired for the Artbank Collection in 2013 via Telstra NATSIAA W & V McGeoch Collection
SOUTH AUSTRALIA MUSEUM

Awards

2020 Bayside Finalist 2020
2019 NATSIAA Finalist

Solo Exhibitions

2009 Solo/ Indigenart Gallery Perth

Group Exhibitions

2020 Rawa Titungarala - Artsource WA
2019 Adazzle Exhibition - JGM Gallery London
2019 Desert Mob 2019 2019 36th Telstra NATSIAA Awards
2019 - Finalist 2018 Port Hedland Art Award - Finalist
2018 Desert Mob 2018
2018 Albany Art Prize - Finalist, Albany
2017 NGURRA: Home in the Nganyatjarra Lands, South Australian Museum, Adeliade
2017 Desert Mob Exhibition, Araluen Gallery
2017 Salon De Refuse, Darwin
2017 Tjukurla Tjukurrpa, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney
2017 Flight Exhibition, FORM Gallery, Perth 2017 Raft South Artspace
2016 Desert Mob 2016
2016 Salon Des Refuses
2016 Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney
2016 Touring Exhibition Germany - Art Kelch
2015 Palya - Vivien Anderson Gallery
2015 Tunbridge Gallery, Perth
2015 Desert Mob 2015 - Araluen Gallery
2015 Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery
2015 NATSIAA 2015 - Museum & Gallery of Northern Territory
2015 Recent Works from Tjarlirli Art- RAFT Artspace
2015 Western Desert Mob- Paintings from Tjarlirli and Warakurna- Harvey Art Projects US
2014 Warakurna Artists and Tjarlirli Art- Vivien Anderson Gallery
2014 Desert Mob 2014
2014 Salon Des Refuses- Outstation Gallery
2014 Our Home in Colour- Outstation Gallery
2014 Living Spirit- Marshall Art
2013 The Wild Ones, RAFT Art Space
2013 Desert Mob Exhibtion 2013- Aruluen Arts Centre Alice Spings
2013 Telstra NATSIAA 2013
2013 Seeing Beyond, Marshall Arts
2010 Tjarlirli Group Show, Merenda Gallery Fremantle
2010 Desert Mob Exhibition - Araluen Arts Centre Alice Springs
2009 Desert Mob/ Araluen Gallery Alice Springs
2009 Western Desert Mob Emerging Artists/ Outstation Gallery Darwin