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Butcher Cherel Janangoo


Bush Leaves
Collection
National Gallery of Australia

Born   c1920    
Skin Group  Jangkarti
Country  Jalnganjoowa   
Language  Gooniyandi / Kija

Butcher Cherel Janangoo was born around 1920 at Jalnganjoowa. This is near the original homestead on one of the longest established cattle stations in the Kimberley, Fossil Downs. He now lives in town at Fitzroy Crossing.

His mother was Kija and his father, Gooniyandi. He speaks both of these languages as well as some Walmajarri and Bunuba. Both of his parents worked on the station in and around the homestead and he recalls being taken out bush for walkabout and at law time. With the two of them working on the station, it follows that Butcher also spent most of his working life on Fossil Downs. As a stockman he worked cattle, droving from Fitzroy Crossing to Derby and Broome. This time was hard as he remembers “real hard”. He says that he lost his law for a while as a young adult whilst working on the station, however he has maintained his understanding of traditional lessons received from his parents and grandparents.

Butcher is a key elder of the Gooniyandi language group and has been instrumental in the retention of Law ceremony at Muludja Community. He sees Aboriginal Law and language as fundamentally important and feels uneasy that young people today do not have this tradition to refer to as they have not been educated as he was.

As he stated, “With my eyes, my heart and with my brain I am thinking.  When I go to sleep night time, I might talk to myself, ‘ah, I might do [paint] that one tomorrow’, not dreaming; I think about what to do next.” (1996).

Solo Exhibitions
2007 Mirra Doorloo, Marla, Brigitte Braun Art Dealer @ fortyfivedosntairs, Melbourne
2005 Imanara, Artplace, Perth
2003 “Same Name Imanara, One Place Imanara”, Artplace
“Imanara Country”, Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney
2002 “Imanara”, Raft Artspace, Darwin
2001 “Janangoo-Imanara-Gooniyandi”, Artplace
2000  “Imanara Country”, Artplace
1999 “Imanara - Big country”, Festival of Perth, Artplace
“Janangoo Butcher Cherel”, Aboriginal & Pacific Arts Gallery, Sydney
1998 “Gamba Malarni Dagoola”, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
1997 “Joonany garra mi yoodila” (I put it good way), Artplace
1996 Durak Gallery, Broome
1993 “Parntapi Bilnga”, Artplace (with Peter Skipper)
1992 “Butcher Cherel Janangoo Gooniya Kija”, Birukmarri Gallery, Fremantle
Group exhibitions
2006 Clemenger Art Award, Natinal Gallery of Victoria
2004 “This is still my country... 10 years on...” Perth International Arts Festival- Artplace, Perth
2003 Jumu, Jiwari & Wirrkuja”, Cullity Gallery, University of Western Australia
2002 Artplace Group Show 2002
Melbourne Art Fair 2002, Artplace Stand
City of Joondalup Invitation Art Prize
2001 Mangkaja Arts, Ten Years Anniversary”, Tandanya, Adelaide
“Butcher Cherel, Tommy May, John Nargoodah, Mervyn Street”, Aust. Print Workshop, Melbourne
2000 Artplace Christmas show
Side by Side, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
“Imanara Series/ Kerry Stokes Collection” Art Gallery of Western Australia
“Proof Positive; limited edition prints by Leading Australian Artists”, Australian Print Workshop,
1999 “Story Boards- ceramic tiles from the Kimberley”, Fremantle Art Centre
1998 Artplace Christmas Show
“Artplace at 101”, Gallery 101, Melbourne
City of Joondalup Art Award, Perth
Mangkaja Survey Show, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
1997 Heritage Commission Art Award, Old Parliament House, Canberra
1996 “Mangkaja”, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
“Mangkaja APW” Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide
Heritage Commission Art Award, Old Parliament House, Canberra
1995 “Prints from the APW Collection”, Survey show of recent works from the APW archive, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
“Old Mangkaja New Prints”, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre
1994 “Ngajakura Ngurrara Minyarti- This is my Country”, Festival of Perth exhibition, Artplace
1993 - 97 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, (selected to hang) Museum & Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin
1993 “Images of Power; Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley”, National Gallery of Australia
Awards
2006 Finalist Clemenger Award
2004 State Living Treasure, Western Australia
1993 Finalist RAKA Award, Melbourne UniversityAwards
Publications & Reviews
2004  Ian McLean, “This is still my country... 10 years on...” Reviews-WA, Australian Art Collector, Issue27, pg209-210
2003 Simon Blond, “Asking the big questions” In the picture, The West Australian, 19th July
Judith McGrath, “New Works by Butcher Cherel Janangoo” Reviews, p175, Australian Art Collector, Issue 25
“Martuwarra & Jila, Jumu, Jiwari & Wirrkuja”, Exhibition catalogue, Cullity Gallery, UWA
2002 Philippa O’Brien, “Land, Poetry, Power” Artlink, Vol. 22 #3
2001 Big Weekend, The West Australian, 19 August
2000 Ted Snell, “Dreaming of life on the station”, The Australian, 19 February
David Bromfield, “Art for art’s sake”,big weekend, The West Australian, Aug. 26
1999 J. McGrath, “Butcher Cherel Janangoo, Julie Dowling, Julie Gough”, Artlink, 19:2
Bruce James, radio review, Radio National, “Arts today”, 19 February
Andrew Nicholls, “Perth Festival: Unfolding from the margins”, Real Time, Apr-May
Andrew Nicholls, “Arts”, Westside Observer, 19 February
Ted Snell, “Right balance in a cultural feast”, The Australian, 19 February
David Bromfield, “Festival offers visual lucky dip”, West Australian, 20 February
“Imanara” exhibition catalogue, (FOP), Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency
1997 “Painting with eyes, heart and brain”, Local News, 23 April
David Bromfield, “On show”, The West Australian, 26 April
1993 “Painters show their style”, The West Australian, 8 September
1992 “Cooniyandi kija”, exhibition catalogue, Birukmarri Gallery, Fremantle
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Holmes a Court Collection, Aboriginal Affairs Department- Perth, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Kerry Stokes Collection, Curtin University- Perth, University of Western Australia, Lions Eye Institute, City of Wanneroo, Artbank- Sydney.