User:Egraham5151/Paddy Compass Namatbara

Paddy Compass Namatbara (1890-1973) was an Aboriginal artist from Crocker Island known for his bark paintings.

Biography

Paddy Compass Namatbara was from the Alardju clan and spoke Iwaidja language and belonged to the Duwa moiety. He started his bark paintings as early as 1941 at the mission at Minjilang. Many of his bark paintings are of sorcery and magic, often sexual. His works are non-convention, always painting the figures in a deformed manner. Namatbara’s paintings are held in several major public collections in Australia, and in collections in Paris and Geneva, and at the University of Virginia.

Career

The Methodist mission at Minjilang was a Crocker Island centre that acted as a diverse center for tribal groupings. Namatbara was one of the group of artists on Minjilang (Croker Island) in the 1960s including notable artists such as Yirawala, Jimmy Midjawmidjaw and January Nangunyari Namiridali. The Methodist mission on Croker Island gave these artists a space for freedom in their artistic expression compared to the mission at Oenpelli.

Paddy Compass Namatbara used the style of Crocker Island. His works are displayed on bark and often depicted ancestral spirits, such as Mimi and Maam. Many of his works are of male and female spirits which he depicts with genitalia, exaggerating their limbs and proportions. His bark paintings distinguish themselves through how he painted the spirits faces.

Works

Cursing the Lovers, about 1963, Paddy Compass Namatbara, Alardju clan, Iwaidja language, 1890–1973, 123 x 55 cm, Bennett Collection, collected in western Arnhem Land. National Museum of Australia