Philip Gudthaykudthay

Philip Gudthaykudthay (pronounced "g'day, g'day"; 1935 or earlier – October 2022), also known as Pussycat, was an Aboriginal Australian artist. His work is held in many public galleries in Australia and internationally, including the British Museum.

Early life Philip Gudthaykudthay was born south of Ramingining, near Mulgurrum in central Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia around 1935 or possibly earlier; ). His father was Lika, brother of Miyalan, and his mother Ganinydja 1, of the Djardewitjibi group.

As a young man Gudthaykudthay worked on making fences, hunting crocodiles, and as a stockman as a young man, on Milingimbi and around Ramingining. He also painted the Wagilag sisters, goannas, echidnas, frogs, and other subjects.

When Gudthaykudthay had his first solo exhibition at the Garry Anderson Gallery in Sydney in 1983, which consisted of bark paintings, he was the first artist from Ramingining to have one. The exhibition sold out and the National Gallery of Australia acquired two of the paintings.

In 2010, he was commissioned to create murals for the Ramingining Men's Safe House.

He has had his work sold by commercial galleries and it is represented in many galleries in Australia, including university and state collections.

Other activities In 2006, he played a significant role in Rolf de Heer's film Ten Canoes, as The Sorcerer. He contributed to the film through his understanding of traditional life portrayed in the film, including his knowledge of making bark canoes.

Death He died in October 2022.

Exhibitions Gudthaykudthay held two exhibitions with Jimmy Wululu. His work has also been represented in a number of group and solo exhibitions, some of which are listed below. Group 1988: Contribution of five burial poles of the 200 created by Ramingining artists for the Aboriginal Memorial, now located at the National Gallery of Australia 1993–4: Aratjara, an international exhibition 1994: The Power of the Land, National Gallery of Victoria 1997: The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story 1937–1997, at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra 2007: Culture Warriors, the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial, curated by Brenda L. Croft, at the National Gallery of Australia

Solo 1983: Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney 1991: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery 1995: Aboriginal & South Pacific Gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney 2003: My Art, My Country, Aboriginal & Pacific Art Gallery, Sydney 2006: Pussycat: The Sorcerer, Aboriginal & Pacific Art Gallery, Sydney 2021: Philip Gudthaykudthay – The Pussycat and the Kangaroo, 23 paintings created between 2005 and 2019, curated by Djon Mundine, at the Commercial Gallery, Sydney

Collections Gudthaykudthay's work is represented in many galleries in Australia, including university and state collections, as well as internationally. These include:

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Ramingining Collection, Sydney Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Artbank, Sydney Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Ganter Myer Collection, Melbourne Milingimbi Collection, Milingimbi Educational and Cultural Association Charles Darwin University, Darwin Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane University of Queensland, Anthropology Museum, St Lucia British Museum, London Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia Seattle Art Museum Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany Museum of Mankind, British Museum, London British Museum, Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, London , Utrecht, The Netherlands