Balang Nakurulk (John Mawurndjul AM)

c. 1952-2024 West Arnhem Land
John Mawurndjul AO is one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, internationally renowned for his virtuosic rarrk (cross-hatching) and bark painting innovations. A senior Kuninjku artist from western Arnhem Land, he depicts djang (sacred sites and ancestral power) from his country around the Kurulk and Mann River region, creating optically complex surfaces that transform the aesthetics of bark painting. Mawurndjul has exhibited widely overseas, including major shows in Germany and at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris. In 2018, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia presented John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, a landmark retrospective. He won the Telstra NATSIAA in 1999 and 2003, and represented Australia internationally at the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Humboldt Forum (Berlin), and other major institutions. His works are held in premier collections worldwide, including the Met and quai Branly.
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