The first United States solo exhibition by acclaimed Tiwi artist Timothy Cook will be presented by D Lan Galleries this September, marking a defining moment in the international career of one of Australia's most significant contemporary Indigenous artists.
Open in New York from September 9 to October 10, Kurluwukari presents a major new body of work exploring the enduring cultural traditions of the Tiwi Islands through Cook's distinctive contemporary visual language.
The exhibition opens just days after Cook's Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award-winning work goes on view in The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon (September 5, 2026 - January 3, 2027), underscoring his growing international recognition.
For more than two decades, Cook has developed an internationally recognised practice grounded in Kulama, the Tiwi coming-of-age ceremony associated with renewal, knowledge, the late wet season and the yam harvest.
Rather than depicting ceremony as history, Cook paints from within a living cultural tradition, transforming ceremonial body designs into luminous fields of natural ochre that have become among the most compelling voices in contemporary Australian art.
Centred on the Tiwi word Kurluwukari, meaning "circle", the exhibition reveals the rhythmic concentric forms that have become the defining motif of Cook's practice.
Across bark and linen, these compositions move seamlessly between cultural knowledge and contemporary abstraction, demonstrating how one of the world's oldest continuing artistic traditions continues to evolve through contemporary artistic practice.
"My name is Timothy Cook. My Country is Mananowmi, close to Goose Creek [Tiwi Islands]. I've been painting jilamara [Tiwi ochre designs] for a long time," Cook said.
"I paint Kulama [coming of age ceremony]. I do it on parrungbarri [flattened stringy bark]. I worked hard [for this exhibition], those paintings gone a long way. New York is long way from here."
Prepared using natural ochres gathered on Country and materials shaped through Tiwi knowledge, each work reflects an intimate relationship between artist, place and community.
The exhibition spans canvases alongside bark paintings, highlighting both the continuity of Tiwi artistic practice and Cook's ongoing innovation as a contemporary painter.
"Timothy Cook's paintings are immediately compelling for their extraordinary visual energy, every mark is inseparable from Country, ceremony and community," added D'Lan Davidson, founder of D Lan Galleries.
"Timothy's work demonstrates that Tiwi artistic practice is dynamic and continues to evolve while remaining deeply grounded in cultural knowledge. We are honoured to introduce his work to American audiences through this landmark exhibition."
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public programs celebrating Tiwi culture, including an event presented with the American Australian Association featuring representatives from Jilamara Arts & Crafts, alongside related programming at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection.
Presented by D Lan Galleries, Kurluwukari offers collectors, museums and international audiences a rare opportunity to experience museum-quality works at a pivotal moment in Cook's international career while recognising the vitality, sophistication and global significance of contemporary Tiwi art.
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