Jack Cook Jangala
Jack Cook Jangala was born on Napperby Station near Yuelamu in the Northern Territory. Jack is a senior Law man and a very well-respected member of the Yuelamu community.
He is an Anmatyerre speaker whose country is Ngarliyikurlangu to the west and northwest of the Aboriginal community of Yuendumu.
Jack treasures his Aboriginal heritage and skills. He regularly takes his family out bush to camp to learn traditional skills such as boomerang making and hunting, and to teach his sons the important dreaming stories that he paints.
Like many of the older men Jack worked for many years as a stockman on Mt Allan station before the land was returned to the traditional owners and the last manager left Mt Allan around 1996. During the years he spent living and working on the station he learned to speak excellent English and developed a lifelong friendship with the station manager DD Smith.
He began painting traditional stories on canvas in 1985. His main subjects are Emu, Honey Ant, Water Snake, and Turkey Dreamings. Jack's use of traditional colours, well-executed designs, and the small intricate dots make for a spectacular effect.
Jack has largely painted for the Yuelamu artists whilst the art centre was operational. He now paints for galleries in Alice Springs and carries out privately commissioned works. He has exhibited at Tandanya Gallery in Adelaide and has also been exhibited in Galleries in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
