Vincent Namatjira has aimed his brushes even higher than the Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart. He has now subjected British royalty to his bitingly satirical method of portraiture, in an exhibition due to go on display in Sydney in August.
Namatjira’s latest suite of paintings is titled King Dingo. The paintings depict a dingo in royal regalia. The Australian wild dog is shown in various poses: astride a ceremonial black horse, standing in the desert and saluting, or wearing a jewelled crown and holding a skull instead of the usual orb.
Asked by The Art Newspaper if the work was intended as a reference to King Charles III, Namatjira said: “My recent paintings are about Aboriginal ownership, strength and pride, using the dingo—a protector totem—as a symbol of Indigenous power. The King Dingo figures are based on the poses, outfits and accessories of the British Royal family, but they aren’t specifically portraits of King Charles III, they’re just symbols of royalty. With these paintings, I’m looking at ideas of royalty and status from a remote Indigenous perspective and asking, ‘what does power and leadership really look like?’”
King Dingo (on horseback 1) (2024)
Namatjira made international headlines earlier this year with his unflattering portrait of Rinehart. Incensed by her portrayal, the billionaire demanded (fruitlessly) that the National Gallery of Australia remove the painting from its Namatjira exhibition.
If the backgrounds to the new Namatjira paintings look familiar, they should. They are a simulacrum of the landscape paintings that turned Namatjira’s great grandfather, Albert Namatjira, into an internationally known artist.
Albert Namatjira (1902-59) truly lived between two worlds. While being subjected to the widespread strictures applied to Aboriginal people in the first half of the 20th century, he also received a Coronation Medal by Queen Elizabeth II.
Vincent Namatjira is a Western Aranda artist who lives in the desert community of Indulkana, in South Australia.
“King Dingo presents subversive portraits that are an unapologetic celebration of Aboriginal leadership, influenced by Namatjira’s ongoing research and engagement with his great-grandfather Albert Namatjira’s work as well as his own recent plein air painting expeditions on country,” the press material states.
King Dingo will be on view at Ames Yavuz gallery in Sydney from 31 August until 5 October.