Beerbee Mungnari was born at Waterloo Station, Northern Territory in 1933. His parents ‘belong to Rosewood’ and this is where he was brought up on a diet, he recalls, or ‘kangaroo soup and goats milk’. He has lived and worked most of his life as a stockman working on various stations in the east Kimberley region.
He grew up at Rosewood Station, then managed by Jack Kilfoyle, and later went to work at 16 years of age, at Texas Downs Station. The move to Texas was prompted by a close friendship between the then station manager, Jimmy Cline and Beerbee’s father. Cline had been head stockman for Kilfoyle and had recently moved to manage Texas Downs Station. He would often spend evenings carving boab nuts with a sharp piece of wire or blade. They would carve turkeys, Emu, snake and crocodile on the nuts.
Beerbee has many stories of the country south and east of Kununurra before Argyle Dam was built. He often recalls how up to 700 cattle were driven by six men, a camp cook and ‘off sider’ from the stations through to the cattle port of Wyndham. These trips would take 12 nights. Many of these drives from the basis for Beerbee’s paintings. Warmun artists Hector Jandany and Jack Britten often worked alongside Beerbee.
Beerbee started to paint in 1982, the same year that the school at Warmun started. Beerbee spent a lot of time painting the early stories to teach students at the new Ngalanganpum School.
Beerbee used to watch old Jack Britten paint and started to experiment with ochre and learn from some of the early Warmun painters.
His interest and love of the country was and still is the major influence of his beautiful landscapes.
Several of Beerbee’s daughters paint (especially Denise and Joanne) and are showing signs of the same talent that makes Beerbee one of Warmun’s most respected artists. His style and method are unique and highly recognisable amongst other Warmun artists.
Note re Exhibition listing
Beerbee has been painting and exhibiting for a significant period of time, however very little documented information is available. Beerbee often sold work to art dealers who then placed work in shows, unfortunately the many exhibitions Beerbee has contributed to have not been fully recorded.
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