Mithinarri Gurruwiwi (c.1929–1976) was an Aboriginal Australian painter of the Gälpu clan of the Yolngu people of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.
[2] Mithinarri Gurruwiwi was born in 1929 to the Galpu clan and the Dhuwa moiety of the Yolngu people,[1] in the Blue Mud Bay area of North-east Arnhem Land.
They were taught by Wandjuk's father, Mawalan Marika, a master bark painter, at Beach Camp in Yirrkala in Arnhem Land.
Although many Aboriginal Artists have started to transition into European paintbrushes, Mithinarri continued working with brushes made of frayed stringy bark when applying background colour as well as drawing the main figurative components of his paintings.
[4] Mithinarri frequented subjects such as Wild Cabbage, Wagilag Sisters Myth, Rainbow Serpent, Snake in his paintings using Natural Earth Pigments on Eucalyptus Bark.
[4] Mithinarri's figurative representations often integrate itself with his geometric clan designs, creating a flowing composition that consist of both stylistic elements.
For example, many of his paintings of Garrimala burst with vibrant life that characterize the rich inland lake with snakes, birds and fish competing with each other among the waterlilies.
[7] The Yirrkala Church Panels were painted in Earth pigments and featured no Christian imagery and a central focus was to balance that spirituality with the Yolngu cosmology.
[7] The Church discarded them when they made the decision not to install the work, but was rescued in 1978 and brought to the fledgling Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre.