Gunybi Ganambarr

Gunybi Ganambarr is an Aboriginal artist from Yirrkala, in the North-eastern Arnhem Land of the Northern Territory. He currently resides in Gängän where he continues to create his art. Ganambarr is considered the founder of the "Found" movement in northeast Arnhem Land, in which artists use recycled materials, onto which are etched sacred designs more commonly painted on eucalyptus bark.

Early life Gunybi Ganambarr was born on 15 April 1973. He is part of the Ngaymil Clan of the Dhuwa Moiety.

Ganambarr gained artistic knowledge from his family, as art techniques were passed down and inherited through generational family ties

Ganambarr's was influenced by his time at the art centre in Yirrkala, which he said had the attitude that anyone could become an artist.

Ganambarr spent twelve years as a housebuilder in a Gangan outstation. However, in 2006, he began experimenting with reclaimed materials not traditionally used in Aboriginal art, such as glass, rubber, and various metals. In the Aboriginal art scene, most Yolngu artists had been held to the longstanding tradition that in order to paint Madayin miny'tji, or sacred clan designs, one must use materials that came from country or naturally occurred in the landscape—traditionally, these materials included natural ochres and eucalyptus bark. Ganambarr consulted with his clan elders, arguing that reclaimed or "found" materials such as aluminum metal scraps should also be considered part of the land and therefore eligible for use in artwork depicting sacred designs, opening up avenues for other artists to use new materials in their artwork as well.

In 2009, Ganambarr had his first solo exhibition, titled Dhuwa Saltwater, at Annandale Galleries.

In 2012, Ganambarr had his second solo exhibition at the Annandale Galleries titled, From My Mind, in which he had works containing chicken wire, roofing insulation and PVC pipes.

In 2013, Ganambarr was in the exhibition Found alongside Djirrirra Wunungmurra and Ralwurrandji Wanambi. Inspired by Ganambarr's work, he exhibition was about "abandoning the traditional medium of bark" and "expanding...methods and materials".

Ganambarr has claimed that becoming an artist has allowed him to care more about educating others. He wants everyone to hear his story as he shares about his home that has existed for thousands and thousands of years. 2018 First Prize Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards For his work Buyku He played the Digeridoo for two of his mother's clans in Dhaḻwaŋu and Maḏarrpa ceremonies, both clans being of the Yirritja moeity. Ganambarr spent over a decade as a construction worker and builder for the Laynhapuy Homelands Association, however returned to Gängän, his mother's homeland, later. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia

Exhibitions

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Solo