Name

Jack Britten

Other names

BRITTEN, Jack Warnngaryirriny 'Yalarrji'

Culture

Aboriginal Australian

Gender

Male

Birth date

c.1924

Birth place

East Kimberely, Western Australia, Australia View on map Close map

Death date

22 July 2002

Death Place

Australia View on map Close map

Occupations

Artist (painter) | Painter | Printmaker

Summary

Worked: Australia (WA). Screenprints

NGA IRN

17371

Context

Australia

Biography

Jack Britten

Jack Britten was born at Tickelara in the East Kimberely. He is a senior Gija lawman. As a boy he was taken to work as a stockman and later as a road worker. In 1982 he moved back permanently to Frog Hollow, where he had worked to establish the Worranginy Out-Station.

His painting focuses on his country, its origins, ceremonies and ancestral figures; his vision merging the spiritual and physical landscape.

Britten began painting early in life. His grandparents taught him to paint using traditional materials, methods and themes. Distinctive features of his painting are the use of bush-gum or sap as the binder for ochres and the use of saw-toothed incising. He depicts his Dreamings with a lateral landscape perspective and gentle clusters of dome shaped ranges which represent the Bungle Bungles. He is known for his exploration of the landscape with rough textures and bold designs. The distinctive dotting which outlines and is embodied in the landscape forms, describes the country and evokes the presence of ancestors and ceremonies. Britten often incorporates body markings into his work emphasising his ritual seniority. His work is a spiritual and lyrical reflection on the landscape.

Since 1987 Britten has exhibited all over Australia including in the Crossroads - Towards a New Reality: Aboriginal Art from Australia in Kyoto and Tokyo in 1992; and Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1993.

In 1992 he won the Museums and Art Galleries Award and the National Aboriginal Art Award. His work is held in several private and corporate collections.

Biography courtesy of The Australian Art Print Network, 2001.
© Australianprints

Affiliation

Kija (Gija) people

ATSI region

Kimberley

Sub-region

Kimberley

Specific location

Warun (Turkey Creek)

Artist’s country

Purnululu

Language

Kija & Gidja

Sub-section

Juluma

Last Updated

06 Oct 2021