Biography

Skin: Juwurru
Language: Gija
Born: Spring Creek, WA, c1948, grew up Texas Downs Station
Lives: Warmun Community (Turkey Creek) WA

Patrick is a senior artist and elder at Warmun Community (Turkey Creek) in the East Kimberley in Western Australia. Patrick was born at Spring Creek and, like his famous artist father George Mung Mung, worked as a stockman for many years on Texas Downs Station and other nearby stations in the East Kimberley region of northwestern Australia. He was the last worker to leave Texas Downs when it closed down in the 1970s. When his father died in 1991, it fell to Patrick to accompany his father’s carving Mary of Warmun to Canberra for the exhibition ‘Aboriginal Art and Spirituality’ at the High Court of Australia. This occasion marked the beginning of a journey for Patrick which was to see him take on his father’s role of senior artist, Law and Culture man. Patrick started painting in 1991, shortly before George passed away.
Patrick’s work often exhibits the lyrical influence of his father and expresses a fresh perspective on the Warmun tradition of rich colour field painting. His work is influenced by other well known artists, including Rover Thomas and Paddy Jaminji, in its raw directness and composition. Through his images, Patrick’s knowledge of his country and his cultural memory of family, land and work are powerfully related. Patrick possesses a quiet wisdom and, like his father, is a strong cross-cultural communicator.
Patrick was instrumental in establishing the first artist and community-owned art centre at Warnum in 1998. He is currently chairperson of the Warnum Art Centre Committee.

Solo Exhibitions:
2000 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC

Exhibitions:
1999 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1999 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin, NT
1999 East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra, WA
1999 Hale School Annual Art Exhibition, Perth, WA
1999 Japingka Gallery, Freemantle, Perth, WA
1999 Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
1999 Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2000 Kunst Der Aborigines, Galerie Baehr, Dromagen, Germany
2000 Kunst Der Galerie Baehr Leverkusen,, Germany
2000 Anthropological Museum, Freibur, Germany
2000 Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2000 Chrysalis Publishing, Melbourne, VIC

Awards:
Winner of the 1999 East Kimberley Art Awards – Shire Award for Excellence in Art.

Collections:
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
Kerry Stokes Collection
Artbank
Private Collections

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