Dhambit Munuŋgurr: Finding blue

Dhambit Munuŋgurr: Finding blue is a gallery-wide exhibition of more than one hundred works that trace the evolution of one of Australia’s most dynamic contemporary painters.

In 2020, Munuŋgurr gained international recognition as the first Yolŋu artist to work with blue acrylic paint. This landmark exhibition charts her artistic journey from early bark paintings in ochre-inspired tones to her now iconic electric blue palette.

The exhibition also marks the release of Munuŋgurr’s first monograph, offering new scholarship and deep insight into her life, practice and enduring contribution to Australian art.

Curated by Dr Shelley McSpedden and Myles Russell-Cook.

About the artist: Dhambit Munuŋgurr (b. 1968) lives and works in Yirrkala, North East Arnhem Land. As a Yolŋu woman from the community of Gunyuŋara, she belongs to an extraordinary lineage of artists and leaders. Her grandfather, Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu, was a key contributor to the 1963 Yirrkala Church Panels, and her parents, Mutitjpuy Munuŋgurr and Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, were both first-prize winners of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA).

Recent solo exhibitions include Dhambit Munuŋgurr (2023) at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, and Dhambit Munuŋgurr (2019) at Salon Project Space, Darwin. Her work has been featured in major group exhibitions such as Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala at the National Gallery of Victoria (2022) and Tarnanthi at the Art Gallery of South Australia (2023). In 2022 she received the NATSIAA award, and in 2023 she won the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.