Aboriginal Australian artist, Vincent Namatjira (b. 1983), was born in Alice Springs, Australia and then lived in Hermannsburg, also in the Northern Territory, until 1991. After his mother died that year, Vincent (and his sister) were displaced from their Arrernte family and sent to live in foster homes in Perth, Western Australia.
Vincent did not know that he is the great-grandson of the esteemed artist Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), not until he made his way back to Hermannsburg when he was 18.
Vincent Namatjira starting painting in 2012 and his work has been regularly exhibited ever since.
He has now established himself as a celebrated, subversive portraitist, noted for his humorous, satirical look at Australia.
Vincent Namatjira won the prestigious Ramsay art prize in 2019 for his rendition of Captain Cook and the Archibald prize in 2020 for his portrait of AFL great Adam Goodes.
On 8 June 2020, Vincent Namatjira was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) “in recognition of his service to Indigenous visual arts and community:”