Gideon Tjupurrula b. c.1927

Also known as Gideon Tjiparulla Jack
  • Artist (Painter)
Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara speaker who commenced painting for Papunya Tula Artists at Haasts Bluff in approximately 1976. He initially worked with a core group of Eastern Pintupi artists, and re-emerged as an artist with the establishment of Ikuntji Arts in the 1990s. His work is in major public and private collections.

Born in the late ’20s in the vicinity of Lake Mackay. First saw Europeans at Ilpilli in about 1930. The family later moved eastwards to the fringes of European settlement, settling at Haasts Bluff in the late ’40s. Gideon attended the mission school at Hermannsburg and later worked as a stockman on Glen Helen station. Gideon remained at Haasts Bluff after the majority of its Aboriginal residents were moved to Papunya at the beginning of the ’60s and began painting for Papunya Tula Artists at Haasts Bluff in about 1976. When a new painting enterprise focused on the Women’s Centre emerged at Haasts Bluff in the ’90s, Gideon’s wife, Eunice Napanangka Jack , became a leading figure.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien Note: primary biographer
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011