DOB: Around 1945. Kiwirrkurra, Gibson Desert, Western Australia
Language: Pintupi
Dreaming’s: Tingari, Karrkurritinytja (Lake McDonald)
George was born near Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert and lived there until he was a teenager then settling in the Aboriginal settlement of Papunya. It was here at Papunya where George began painting for Papunya Tula Artists around 1976.
His half-brother Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi and Willy Tjungurrayi were some of the founding artists.
It was in the early 1990s George began painting the Tingari stories using his distinct linear optical stripes to form geometric patterns. His other striking style is seen as loosely joined dots to form patterns to tell his stories. Tingari are ancestral spirit beings who gave law and culture to the Pintupi people and transformed the landscape. Most of the stories around Tingari are secret and only the initiated are privy. George also paints his country such as Karrkurritinytja (Lake McDonald).
In 2004 he won the prestigious Wynne Art Prize at the Art Gallery of New South
Wales. He is a highly sought-after artist with works exhibited in Australia and worldwide.
George prefers to live out bush as a Senior Pintupi elder between the communities of Kintore, Kiwirrkurra and Warakuna where he continues to paint.
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