DIRDI, BOB BALIRRBALIRR (1905-1977)

Ngurrurdu Tjukurpa (Emu Dreaming)" (c.1965)
natural pigments on bark
cm
details on verso
*purchased from the artist
*private collection, Sydney
 
Bob Balirrbalirr Dirdi is an important Indigenous Australian bark painter. Dirdi was from the Barrbinj clan, of Yirridjdja moiety, in Western Arnhem Land, and was discovered by anthropologists Ronald & Catherine Berndt in the 1940s. He was best known for his Oenpelli bark X-Ray paintings of Australian Fauna, traditional and spiritual themes for the First Australians.  His work has been represented in major exhibitions at the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia, and some works even toured North America in the 1970s, alongside fellow Aboriginal Masters, David Yirawala and David Malangi. His work now appears in the NGV, National Museum, AGSA and NGA.