George Milpurrurru

Milpurrurru was born in 1934 and raised in central Arnhem Land, specifically Ganalbingu land, where he learned his artistry. He came from a family of artists; he was the son of Dick Ngulmarrmar, who taught him the art of bark painting, and the sister of Dorothy Djukulul, also a highly respected bark painter. Milpurrurru is a part of the Gurrumba Gurrumba clan, which translates to a flock of Geese. The traditions, styles, and surroundings of his clan provided much inspiration when it came to his bark paintings, which is shown through his usage of the Magpie Geese. The Magpie Goose is a totemic animal of the Gurrumba Gurrumba clan, and is often depicted surrounding water holes—birth and death portals to both creation and the afterlife. Milpurrurru's daughter, Gladys Getjpulu, is also an artist. He died in 1998. ==Style==

with the Eastern technique of depicting plain figures against black backgrounds. His most common theme amongst his paintings is the magpie geese. ==Career==

He started his career as an artist by selling his work in the 1970s to art dealer Dorothy Bennett. Along with Johnny Bonguwuy and David Malangi, Milpurrurru took part in the 1979 Sydney event, A European Dialogue, in which their art was first broadcast to a wider audience, the larger part of metropolitan Australia. In 1985, he showed his first solo exhibition at the Aboriginal Arts Australia Gallery in Sydney. Following his solo exhibition, he showed for a second time at the Biennale of Sydney. ==The Goose Egg Hunt==

His work The Goose Egg Hunt (1983) is held by the National Gallery. In 1993 it was used by Australia Post on the 85c postage stamp, celebrate the International Year for the World's Indigenous People. Goose Egg Hunt had been used by a Perth company to be reproduced on textiles in Vietnam. ==Aboriginal Memorial==

The Aboriginal Memorial is a memorial constructed by forty three men and women of Ramingining and is meant to serve as a reminder of the Aboriginal peoples' place within Australia in response to European colonisation. It is made up of 200 decorated hollow log coffins which are situated to act as a map to showcase the artists Country and was conceived by Djon (John) Mundine in 1987–88 and realised by 43 artists, one of whom was Milpurruruu. Milpurrurru's work, representing the Ganalbingu people in the upper right bank of the memorial, is intended to demonstrate distinction of place through the depiction of water lilies and cormorants. ==Public collections==

Milpurruruu's work is held in the permanent collections of the following: • National Museum of Australia • Art Gallery of New South Wales ==References==