Overview

Mankarre, dabarrabolk birribimbom bim that means; in the olden days old people would paint art. Bolki, mankerrnge bim, today we have new art. Today I still got old and new, when I want to paint old way I do.’

-Joe Guymala 

 

Joe Guymala is a senior Kunwinjku man and acclaimed artist from Manmoyi, a remote Aboriginal community in Western Arnhem Land, Australia.  Born in the mid 1970s, his distinctively graphic and engaging work, made in natural ochres on paper and on bark, combines the ancient traditions of Arnhem Land rock art with a highly individual contemporary vision. 

 

Joe Guymala’s work is steeped in the traditional painting lore of the Kunwinjku people: his grandfather, Namerredje Guymala, was a senior Kunwinjku law-man and artist.  The artist’s own creative work includes not only painting but also music and song-writing. His deep knowledge of the flora, fauna and spiritual life of his ancestral lands has been fostered by his time as a Warddeken Ranger, part of an innovative indigenous Land Management initiative in western Arnhem Land.

 

Guymala’s recurrent motifs document his day-to-day life in the bush and the species that inhabit it, such as emus, kangaroos, cats and birds, as well as the traditional ‘dreamtime’ stories that connect them with the land. The natural world lies at the heart of Guymala’s art, reflecting its centrality to Aboriginal culture. However, he also reaches beyond his immediate environment to take in such distinctly modern subject-matter as YouTube Snake, establishing an interesting correlation between traditional aboriginal means of storytelling and contemporary social-media.

 

Guymala’s work is held in the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Australia. In 2020, after a residency at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, attached to the University of Virginia, USA, his work was also exhibited at the Fralin Museum of Art, Charlottesville, Virginia, and at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery in London. 

Works
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Ngalyod - Rainbow Serpent, 2021
  • Joe Guymala, Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
    Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Ngurrurdu - Emu, 2021
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Komorlo - Egret, 2021
  • Joe Guymala, Kurdukadji - Emu, 2020
    Kurdukadji - Emu, 2020
  • Joe Guymala, Ngalyod - Rainbow Serpent, 2018
    Ngalyod - Rainbow Serpent, 2018
  • Joe Guymala, Kuluybirr - Saratoga, 2018
    Kuluybirr - Saratoga, 2018
  • Joe Guymala, Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
    Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Mandjimdjim (water pandanus), Mandem (waterlily), Durnbuhmanji (black bream), Kedjebe (file snake), 2018
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Mayhmayh - Birds, 2017
  • Joe Guymala, Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
    Joe Guymala Preparing Bark
  • Joe Guymala, Wak Wak - Crow, 2017
    Wak Wak - Crow, 2017
  • Joe Guymala, Budjiked - Cat, 2016
    Budjiked - Cat, 2016
  • Joe Guymala, Youtube Snake, 2019
    Youtube Snake, 2019
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Makkakkurr - Pelican, 2021
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Ngarrbek - Echidna, 2016
  • Joe Guymala, Joe Guymala Cutting Bark
    Joe Guymala Cutting Bark
  • Joe Guymala is an acclaimed Indigenous Aboriginal Australian artist from a remote community in Western Arnhem Land Australia, who is currently being exhibited amongst his contemporary painters at the EXPO Chicago art fair by the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London.
    Kunji - Kangaroo, 2016
  • Joe Guymala, Installation Shot, 2021
    Installation Shot, 2021
  • Joe Guymala, Installation Shot , 2021
    Installation Shot , 2021
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