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Ian RictorTuwan, 2024Acrylic on linen137 x 110cmSold
Ian Rictor was born at Artulin / Tuwan c1955 and is a custodian and traditional owner of Tuwan a significant site in the heart of Spinifex Country. Ian paints with a quiet reverence for the country that he depicts, from his relatively recent nomadic movements over the endless interior that makes up Spinifex Lands. Ian walked from water source to food source and beyond. This was a cultural and family existence for survival in an arid land before his family were located and 'brought in' by relatives in 1986, and they are the last of the known Aboriginal people to have remained living traditionally in the Great Victoria Desert.
Ian's compositions center on the life affirming sites he depicts and each are multi layered with meaning. Many are surrounded with secrecy and only surface details can be recorded. His site of Tuwan is where the Tjulpu Tjuta Tjukurpa (Many Birds Creation Line) manifests. This is an epic Mens’ Creation narrattive that follows the journey south of the Wati Nyii Nyii (Zebra Finch Men) where they place their many spears to save the world from being inundated with flood waters.
In 1997 when the Spinifex Arts Project first began Ian was keen to join the group of painters. He took to the medium of paint on canvas with fluency and has been painting his birthplace and surrounding country since then and has exhibited and been collected in both Australia and overseas. Ian is an impressive and skilled hunter, bush mechanic and craftsman who lives in Tjuntjuntjara Community with his extended family.
Group Exhibitions
2025 Rawa Tjunguku - working together a long time, Red Dot Fine Art, Singapore.
2024 Spinifex People: Art and stories from Pila Nguru, WA Museum Boola Bardip, Perth, WA.
2024 Sovereigns of the Memory, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Brussels.
2024 From the Spinifex Country, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney NSW.
2024 Pila: the Space Between the Dunes, Salon Art Projects, Darwin, NT.
2024 Spinifex 2024 - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA.
2024 Spinifex People - Kamile Gallery, Perth, WA.
2023 Sun and Shadow: Art of the Spinifex People, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA.
2023 The Rictor Family - Last nomads of Australia, Aboriginal Signature • Estrangin Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2023 New Work from the Spinifex Arts Project, D’Lan Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, NSW.
2023 Desert Mob, Desart, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs. NT.
2023 Sun and Shadow - Art of the Spinifex People, Raft Artspace, Alice Springs, NT.
2023 Artists of Tjuntjuntjara, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW.
2023 Voir l’Invisible, Museum MAAM in Angoulême, France, in conjunction with Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery.
2022 Claim the Land, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Belgium.
2022 Living Water, Raft Artspace, Alice Springs, NT.
2022 Desert Mob 2022, Desart, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2022 Short Street Gallery Broome.
2022 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin, NT.
2022 Spinifex Arts Project 25 year anniversary show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2022 Aluni - Resonance - Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2021 Spinifex Wati Tjuta, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW.
2021 Making a Mark, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.
2021 Zeitreise, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany.
2021 Spinifex Artists - On Our Country, Japingka Gallery Fremantle, WA.
2020 Paris Art Fair, ArtKelch. Paris, France.
2020 Art Paris 2020, ARTKELCH at Art Paris 2020, Paris, France.
2020 Paris, Paris!, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany.
2020 Smart Art, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany.
2019 “Wati: Men from Spinifex” Aboriginal and pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW.
2019 Explosion, Aboriginal Signature • Estrangin Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2019 Art Karlsruhe 2019, ARTKELCH at art Karlsruhe 2019, Karlsruhe, Germany.
2018 Spinifex People Spinifex Land - A Collection of Fine Spinifex Indigenous Art, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.
2018 In Kürze: Pila Nguruku Kapi Walkatjara - Painted Waters of Spinifex Country, Artkelch, Skulpturenpark Wesenberg| Künstler Bei Wu, Wesenberg (near Berlin) Germany.
2018 Ngura Ninti – Knowing Country, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany .
2017 Wuste - Meer - Schpfermythen ArtKelch Gallery presented at The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Cologne, Germany.
2017 Spinifex Arts 20th Anniversary, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle. WA.
2017 Salon des Refuses, NATSIAA 2017, Outstation and Paul Johnstone Galleries, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT.
2017 Spinifex Ascendent Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA.
2017 Farben der Wüste, ARTKELCH at Teppichhaus Jordan, Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany.
2016 Pila Nguratja - In Spinifex Country Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2016 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Art Award (Mens Collaborative). Museums and Art Gallery Darwin, NT.
2016 Rawa Nyinanyi- Unbroken. Outstation Gallery, Darwin. NT.
2016 Exposition Spinifex Arts Project, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Fine Art, Belgium.
2016 Community - Spinifex Art project - Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2016 Purungu und Narrupa, ARTKELCH at KUNSTWERK, Eberdingen-Nussdorf, Germany.
2016 Tjungutja – Art of the Spinifex Collaborative, Redot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.
2016 Geisterstunde bei ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany.
2015 Spinifex Arts Project 2015, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW.
2015 Tarnanthi - Festival of Comtemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA.
2015 Indigenous Australia enduring civilisation, The British Museum, London.
2015 Wo das Stachelkopfgras wächst, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany.
2014 Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA.
2014 Tjuntjuntjara - recent works from Spinifex Country Shorts Street Gallery, Broome, WA.
2014 Spinifex Tjukurpa ReDot Gallery, Singapore.
2014 Spinifex Arts Project 2014, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2014 Pila- Spinifex Land Outstation Gallery, Parap, Darwin. NT.
2014 Australian Contemporary Indigenous Art 111 Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art in association with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Santa Fe, USA.
2013 The Wild Ones Raft Artplace, Alice Springs, NT.
2013 Spinifex Arts Project ArtKelch,Freiburg,Munich,Hamburg, Bodensee, Lake Constance, Germany.
2013 Salon des Refuses, Outstation and Paul Johnstone Galleries in the Old bank building Smith and Bennet st Darwin, NT. (Mens Collaborative).
2013 Kuwaritja - New Works of the Spinifex People Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2013 DesertMob Araluen Gallery, Alice Springs, NT.
2012 Tupun Nguranguru – People of the Sandhill Country 45 Downstairs Gallery, Vivien Anderson, Melbourne, VIC.
2012 Spinifex - People of the Sun and Shadow John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, Perth, WA.
2011 The Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2011 Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2011 Living Water- Contemporary Art of the Far Western Desert, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC.
2010 Spinifex Arts Project 2010, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2010 Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2010 Desert Mob, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs, NT.
2010 Desert Country Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA. and National Tour.
2010 Australian Contemporary Indigenous Art Now, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe USA in association with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2009 Tracking the Wati Kutjara Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney, NSW.
2009 Spinifex Artists Ab-Original Gallery, Austria.
2009 Spinifex Artists 2009 Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2009 Generation Next, Randall Lane Gallery, Perth, WA.
2009 Desert Mob Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2008 Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA (Men’s Collaborative).
2008 Spinifex Artists Recent Work Short St Gallery, Broome, WA.
2008 Kapi Ninti: Knowing Water Knowing Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2008 Desert Mob Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2007 Ten Years On Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2007 Seattle Arts Museum, Seattle.
2007 New Spinifex Works Short St Gallery, Broome, WA.
2007 Desert Mob Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2007 Best of the Best Framed Gallery Darwin, NT.
2006 Spinifex - New Works Marshall Arts, Adelaide, SA.
2006 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2006 Desert Mob Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2006 Art of the Spinifex People Japingka Gallery, Perth, WA.
2005 Spinifex Artists Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, England.
2005 Law and Land Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
2005 Desert Mob Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2004 Spinifex Arts Project Harbour House Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland.
2004 Colour Power - Aboriginal Art post 1984 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC.
2003 Spinifex Paintings Raintree Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2003 Spinifex Arts Project 2003 Span Galleries, Melbourne, VIC.
2002 Putitja Nguru - Art of the Spinifex People Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2002 Native Title Business – Contemporary Indigenous Art, Australian National Tour.
2001 Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT.
2001 Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra. ACT.
2001 Flinders Arts Museum, Adelaide, SA.
2001 Broken Hill City Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW.
2001 All About Art Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2000 Pila Nguru - Art and Song of the Spinifex People Western Australian Museum, Perth, WA and National Tour.
Awards
2016 Finalist (Men's Collaborative) 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries, Darwin, NT.
Collections
ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
COLLECTION PRINCE STEFAN OF LIECHTENSTEIN, EMBASSY OF LIECHTENSTEIN IN GERMANY. (MENS COLLABORATE)
MUSEUM FÜNF KONTINENTE, MUNICH, GERMANY
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA, ACT (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
SAMMLUNG ALISON UND PETER W. KLEIN, NUSSDORF, GERMANY
SAMMLUNG PETER DÖHLE SCHIFFAHRTS-KG, HAMBURG, GERMANY
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM, SEATTLE, USA. (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
THE ABORIGINAL ART MUSEUM, UTRECHT
THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON. (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
THE CORRIGAN COLLECTION, AUSTRALIA (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
W. & V. MCGEOCH COLLECTION, MELBOURNE, VIC. (MENS COLLABORATIVE)
WAGNER AND OWEN COLLECTION, USA.
2002 Cane,S. Pila Nguru: The Spinifex People, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, WA.
2008 Vivien Anderson Gallery, 2008, Kapi Ninti – Knowing Water Knowing Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2009 Japingka Gallery, 2009, Spinifex Artists (exh. cat.), Fremantle, WA.
2009 Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australia Indigenous Art Awards 2008 Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA.
2010 Vivien Anderson Gallery 2010, Australian Contemporary Indigenous Art Now (exh. cat.), Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2010 Cumpston, N. 2010, Desert Country (exh. cat.), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA.
2011 Ryan, J. 2011, Living Water: Contemporary Art of the Far Western Desert, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
2012 Rothwell, Nicolas. "Paintings of lifetimes in the desert" The Australian, August 6th.
2012 Hacket, J. Forrest, S. Malcolm, C. Cane, S. Carty, J. Lane, C. Cruthers, J. Chadwick, R. Allerton, L.Spinifex: People of the Sun and Shadow (exh. cat) John Curtin Gallery, Perth, WA.
2012 Allerton, L., Rothwell, N. & McLean, I. 2012, Tupun Nguranguru – People of the Sandhill Country: Spinifex Arts Project 15th Anniversary exhibition, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2012 Jorgensen, D.J. 2012, No Place Without Other Places: Spinifex Arts Project at fifteen years, ARTLINK: Australian contemporary art quarterly, 32, 2, pp. 86-8.
2013 Rothwell, Nicolas. “Dilemma of difference in indigenous art awards”, The Australian, August 13.
2013 ARTKELCH, Robyn Kelch: Spinifex Arts Project, Exhibition catalogue Pro Community 2013, Freiburg, Germany.
2015 Edmons, Penny. 2015 Indigenous Australia exhibition at the British Museum is insider activism at its best, The Conversation, April 22nd.
2015 Nicholls, Christine. 2015, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation is a challenge to review, The Conversation, 27th April.
2015 Dulaney, Michael. Spinifex artwork takes pride of place at British Museum, The Kalgoorlie Miner, May 8th.
2015 Sculthorpe,G. Carty,J. Morphy,H. Nugent,M. Coats, I. Bolton, L. Jones,J. Indigenous Australia enduring civilisation (exh cat) The British Museum, London, UK.
2015 Sculthorpe, Gaye. 2015, Bringing great Australian Indigenous works of art into the light at the British Museum, The Financial Review, April 29th.
2015 Greg, Castillo: Das Volk der Spinifex als Vertreter der Moderne des Kalten Krieges, in: Journal Fünf Kontinente. Forum für ethnologische Forschung, Band 16 / 2013/2014, p. 25ff, Munich, Germany.
2015 Jones, Jonathon. 2015, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation a fabulous beast, The Gardian, April 21st.
2015 Reuters video, Prince Charles says Indigenous history as important as ANZAC day, Reuters, May 1st.
2015 Neill, Rosemary. 2015, British Museum indigenous exhibition earns royal approval, The Australian, May 2nd.
2015 Kelch, Robyn: Pro Community Spinifex Arts Project 2013 in Munich, in: Journal Fünf Kontinente. Forum für ethnologische Forschung, Band 16, 2013/2014, p. 45ff, Munich, Germany.
2017 ARTKELCH, Robyn Kelch: Wüste – Meer – Schöpfermythen, Exhibition catalogue, Freiburg, Germany.
2018 ARTKELCH, Robyn Kelch: Spinifex Arts Project, Exhibition catalogue, Freiburg, Germany.
2019 Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, 2019, Explosion, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium, June.
2022 Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, 'Aluni Resonance', Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery, Bruxelles, June.