Jimmy Pike

Circa 1940 - 2002
Walmajarri
Kimberleys WA

Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney NSW
Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide SA
Art gallery of Western Australia Perth WA
Australian Museum Sydney NSW
Flinders University Art Museum Adelaide SA
Gold Coast City Gallery Queensland
Museum & Art Gallery Northern Territory
National Gallery Canberra ACT
National Gallery Victoria Melbourne VICT
Parliament House Canberra ACT
Robert Holmes a Court Collection Perth WA
Jimmy Pike lived in a bush camp on the edge of the remote Great Sandy Desert of north Western Australia where he painted producing the art for which he has become so well known.

Born in 1940, in remote sandhill country, Jimmy was a member of the Walmajarri people, one of the last groups to leave the desert and settle on cattle stations in the Kimberley’s during the 1950’s. He spent his childhood as a nomad moving with his family around the various waterholes that were the focal points of their arid country. This country, its ancient culture and symbols are the things that inspire Jimmy Pike’s work today.

For many years Jimmy Pike supplemented his earnings by carving and selling artefacts. It wasn’t until 1981 that he was first introduced to Western-style painting and discovered his talent for art. A few years later he set up his isolated camp in the desert where he painted. He worked in the open, resting his paintings on a rough work table he made from old planks. He stored his art and other materials under a heavy canvas fly, where he also took refuge from the rare seasonal falls of rain.

Jimmy Pike’s paintings of the physical and spiritual quality of his traditional Walmajarri country have added a new dynamism to the central positions of landscape in Australian art. They projected a new dimension to our understanding of connections of place and identity. The artist’s themes of the intricacies of desert landscape, the visual character of the changing seasons and the particularities of its Aboriginal spirituality have transformed this extremely isolated area of the northern part of Australia into tangible experience and a rare encounter with its beauty and sacredness.

Jimmy Pike is one of Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artists. He is represented in the collections of all the major Australian public art galleries and museums.

		Homepage \| About Us \| Contact Us \| Tel: +61 2 6844 1345
Gallery		Jimmy Pike

	Aboriginal Art \| Terms & Conditions \| Copyright \| Legal \| Privacy Policy
	Jimmy Pike, Aboriginal artist brought to you by Painted Country Aboriginal Gallery, view online and please contact us for more information.
Contents ©1988 - 2012 Painted Country Aboriginal Gallery \| 116 \| PG Web Development Ltd