Vincent Namatjira (born 14 June 1983) is an Aboriginal Australian artist living in Indulkana, in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY lands) in South Australia. He has won many art awards, and after being nominated for the Archibald Prize several times, he became the first Aboriginal person to win it in 2020. He is the great-grandson of the Arrente watercolour artist Albert Namatjira.
Early life
Namatjira was born on 14 June 1983 in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, and spent his early years in Hermannsburg. He is the great-grandson of renowned watercolour artist Albert Namatjira, and identifies as a Western Aranda man. After his mother, Jillian, died in 1991, Vincent and his sister were removed by the state and sent to foster homes in Perth, Western Australia, thousands of kilometres away.
Of this period, he has said that he felt lost and did not have good memories of childhood, especially as an adolescent. When he was 18, he travelled to Ntaria (Hermannsburg) to find his extended family. Here he drew reconnected with lost culture, language and country, and got involved with land management issues. During a trip through the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, he met his wife, Natasha, and settled with her family at Kanpi.
In 2011, he was inspired to take up painting by Natasha and her father, Kunmanara (Jimmy) Pompey, both artists based at Iwantja Arts, an Aboriginal-owned and -operated centre in Indulkana.
He and his family visited Ntaria, where they studied his aunt, the late Elaine Namatjira (cited as Eileen), a leader of the Hermannsburg Potters, create artworks about their country. He learnt more of the impact of his great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira.
Career
Namatjira began painting in 2012 initially working on traditional dot paintings and taught by his wife Natasha. In 2013, he started painting portraits, starting with his great-grandfather Albert Namatjira. His work has been exhibited regularly since 2012.
His 2014 series, Albert's Story, tells the story of great-grandfather's life and reflects on his legacy. About the series, Namatjira said: "I hope my grandfather would be quite proud, maybe smiling down on me; because I won’t let him go. I just keep carrying him on, his name and our families' stories". The series, which comprises 13 paintings, from "Being Initiated in the Bush" to "Albert Namatjira in Prison" to "Dies in Hospital, Broken Heart", is held by QAGOMA, and is available to view online. Artworks from the series were included in Namatjira's 2021 children's book, Albert Namatjira.
His entry for the 2016 TarraWarra Biennial, Endless circulation, comprised a series of portraits of the seven prime ministers who had been in power in Australia during his lifetime until that point.
Also in 2016, he painted a series of portraits of the seven wealthiest people in Australia, entitled The Richest, which has been shown in many exhibitions. The portraits include Blair Parry-Okeden, Gina Rinehart, Harry Triguboff, Frank Lowy, Anthony Pratt, James Packer and John Gandel.
Three Legends, Namatjira's entry for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) in 2017, was a series of three portraits: David Unaipon, the first published Indigenous Australian writer; Jimmy Little, the first Indigenous performer to have a top 10 single; and Lionel Rose, the first Indigenous boxer to win a world title.
He has painted Donald Trump, whose birthday is on the same day as his own, several times.
In 2018 he painted Legends, a series of portraits of Aboriginal men which included singer Archie Roach, artist Gordon Bennett, land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo, and Australian Football League player Nicky Winmar, who famously lifted his football jersey and pointed at his skin when he was being racially vilified.
Close Contact (2019) is a double-sided portrait on plywood featuring a full-length Captain James Cook on one side and a full-length self-portrait on the other. This won the Ramsay Art Prize, and remains in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Australia in Black and White (2019) features a series of 16 portraits drawn with ink on paper. The faces include those of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former prime minister Julia Gillard, footballer and anti-racism campaigner Adam Goodes, as well as, once again, Albert Namatjira and Eddie Mabo.