Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa

b. 1950, Kiwirrkura

Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa was born near Kiwirrkura in 1950. He spent his boyhood travelling with his family in the lands surrounding Wilkinkarra, until they were taken to Papunya by a Welfare Patrol in 1963. He moved to Balgo Hills during the 1970s together with a group of Pintupi people, but eventually returned to Papunya and then, with his older brother Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, transferred to Intinti outstation, west of Kintore.

Kenny Williams depicts his tribal country around the area of Kiwirrkura, which he has painted for Papunya Tula Artists since 1988. He paints with delicate yet mesmerising lines to delineate his country and its mythological significance. The subtle and luminous impact of his works is underscored by a traditional palette of hues redolent of the earth.

In 2000 Kenny Williams was awarded the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. He also participated in the exhibition Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, held at Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales in the same year.  In 2001 he exhibited in Aborigena at the Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy. He is represented in the Collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Artbank, Sydney as well as in many private collections.