Details of Beerbee Mungnari
About
Beerbee Mungnari was born at Waterloo Station, Northern Territory in 1933. His parents 'belong to Rosewood' and this is where he was brought up on a diet, he recalls, of 'kangaroo soup and goats milk'. He has lived and worked most of his life as a stockman, working on various stations in the East Kimberley region.
He grew up at Rosewood Station, then managed by Jack Kilfoyle, and went to work at 16 years of age, on Texas Downs Station. The move to Texas was prompted by a close friendship between the then station manager, Jimmy Cline, and Mungnari's father. Cline had been head stockman for Kilfoyle and had recently moved to manageTexas Downs Station. The workers would often spend evenings carving boab nuts with a sharp piece of wire or blade. They would carve turkeys, emus, snakes and crocodiles on the nuts.
Mungnari has many stories of the country south and east of Kununurra before Argyle Dam was built. He often recalls how up to 700 cattle were driven by six men, a camp cook and one 'off-sider' from the stations through to the cattle port of Wyndham. These trips would take 12 nights. Many of these cattle drives form the basis for Mungnari's paintings. Late Warmun artists Hector Jandany and Jack Britten often worked alongside Mungnari.
Mungnari started to paint in 1982, the same year that the school at Warmun started. Mungnari spent a lot of time painting the early stories to teach students at the new Ngalanganpum School. His early works now form part of the Warmun Community Collection. Mungnari used to watch old Jack Britten paint and started to experiment with ochre himself and learn techniques from some of the early Warmun painters. His interest and love of the country was and still is the major influence for his landscapes.
Three of Mungnari's daughters are artists (Denise, Joanne and Marika Mung) and are showing the same talent that makes Mungnari one of Warmun's most respected artists. His style and method are unique and highly recognisable amongst the work of other Warmun artists.
Beerbee lives at Frog Hollow, near Warmun Community, with his daughters and extended family.
Note re Exhibition Listings
Mungnari has been painting and exhibiting for a significant period of time, however very little documented
information is available from the period before Warmun Art Centre was established in 1998. Mungnari often sold work to art dealers who then placed work in exhibitions and his early work often comes up for sale on the secondary
market - particularly through the auction houses.
MEDIUM
Natural ochre and pigments on canvas
THEMES
Mustering and stock routes in the East Kimberley
Droving stories from Beerbee's time spent at Rosewood Station
Detailed historical stories of station life and station managers
Stories of the country south of Kununurra, prior to the formation of Argyle Dam
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2004 Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 'The Youngest One', Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2008 'Warmun at Ten: A Decade of Warmun Art', Hogarth Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 'New Voices in Gija Art', Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Vic
2008 'Mungowum Ngarraknaari Yaarun (Strong Stories, Strong Culture), Short St. Gallery, Broome, WA
2007 'Dog Dreamings', Seva Frangos Art, Perth, WA
2006 'Gentlemen of Warmun', Seva Frangos Art, Perth, WA
2006 'Bungle Bungles', Short St. Gallery, Broome, WA
2006 'Warmun Art Centre Presents', Mary Place Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2005 'Waterhole Country', Short St. Gallery, Broome, WA
2005 'Affordable Art Show', Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2005 'Warmun Group show', Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT
2005 'London Affordable Art Show', Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2004 'Tibet meets Warmun', Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
2004 'Big Country Show', Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
2003 'Three Old Men', Seva Frangos Associates, Span Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2002 ''Warmun Country', Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
2002 'New Works from Warmun', Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Vic
2002 'Recent Works from Warmun', Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT
2002 'Munumburra: Wise Men of Warmun', Artplace, Perth, WA
2001 'Ochre Show', Short St. Gallery, Broome, WA
2001 'Short on Size', Short St. Gallery, Broome, WA
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Victoria
Private collections
Kerry Stokes Collection
Artworks of Beerbee Mungnari
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This artist currently has no artworks for sale, please view some recent sold works below.