David Angus Jungala

David Angus Jungala was a Pintupi man from Kintore in the Western Desert of Central Australia. He is the son of famous Western Desert Artist Ronnie Tjampitjinpa – who Central Art – Aboriginal Art Store has coined the Picasso of Aboriginal Art. Sadly, David passed away in 2010. Although not a career artist, David’s works are important in that they share significant Dreamings from the Western Desert.

David’s Dreaming was the Tingari Cycle and through his art he recounted the mythological stories associated with the Pintupi ancestors. Central Art commissioned three small pieces by David in 2009, in which he used traditional Aboriginal iconography to depict the tracks and meeting places of the Pintupi ancestors through their extensive journeys in the Tjukurrpa. They would cover great expanses of land through the Western Desert and along the way create and form the land and teach the laws to the Pintupi people.

The artworks all use traditional colours which can be found in the Western Desert and are created with Ochre Rocks. These rocks come in a range of colours including; white, fawn, brown, and orange hues. The rocks are ground down into a powder, with a little water they create a thick paste which Aboriginal people would use to paint traditional designs on people during ceremonies and even create rock art. David used thick, uneven brush strokes in his works which add to the overall masculinity of the paintings.

These commissioned pieces sold extremely well, and we are saddened that we were unable to work more regularly with David before he passed on.

In Aboriginal culture often when someone passes away, their name is no longer used, this is a sign of respect and a wish not to call them back from where they have gone once passed. Unfortunately given the difficulty in sharing Aboriginal artist’s biographies and paintings, we often have to use the names of artists who have passed on. Central Art does wish to acknowledge the custom of not using the name of those who have passed on and respectfully use David’s name in this biography.