Aboriginal Artist Beerbee Mungnari
Beerbee was born on Waterloo Station, Northern Territory in 1931. Like so many of the Kimberley painters of his generation, he was a stockman and drover, working on many stations including Argyle, Hahn Springs, Lissadell, Texas and Rosewood.
Beerbee (pronounced Birribee) grew up on Rosewood, but recalls the family’s trips to Waterloo Station for holidays at Christmas. After retiring from stock work, he lived for a time at Wyndham, then located to Turkey Creek, where he and his late wife worked in the school and taught the kids – “it was just a bow shed then, that school”.
He has six children – Denise Mung is an Emerging Artist and often paints in her father’s strong style, whilst his youngest daughter Marika is producing precise and delicately executed works still accompanied by the Dreaming Stories of the country that Beerbee has passed on to his family.
Beerbee lived many years at Frog Hollow Community with his friends Jack Britten and Henry Wambini – he moved with them to Turkey Creek – after they were lost (passed away), he now spends most of his time at Frog Hollow and in Kununurra.
He paints the country where he was born and worked in a distinctive style. Beerbee is now the Senior male ochre artist in the Kimberley Region, after the passing in 2006 of Hector Jandany, and as such his works are much sort after.
He is represented in Corporate and Private Collections worldwide.
Solo Exhibitions
2004
• Beerbee Mungnari, Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010
• Beerbee Mungnari and Churchill Cann, Seva Frangos Art, Perth
2009
• Bardungel: The youngest one, Chapman Gallery, Canberra
2008
• Aboriginal Masterworks: Gala Opening, Gallery Sydney-East, Virginia, USA
2007
• From the ground up: Ochre work from the Kimberley, Chapman Gallery, ACT
• Warda-wurrarrem (all kinds of stars), Raft Artspace, NT
2006
• Gentlemen of Warmun (with Patrick Mung Mung, Churchill Cann, Gordon Barney, Tommy Carroll and Clancy Patrick), Seva Frangos Art, Perth
2005
• Waterhole Country, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2004
• Big Country, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
• Tibet Meets Warmun, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
2003
• 3 Old Men, Span Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2002
• Warmun Country, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
• New Works from Warmun, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
• Recent Works from Warmun, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT
• Munumburra: Wise Men of Warmun, Artplace, Perth, WA
2001
• Short on Size, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
Selected Collections
• National Gallery of Victoria
• Kerry Stokes Collection
• Prominent Private & Corporate Collections Worldwide
